The Aurora University baseball team fell to Illinois College on Saturday afternoon. A high scoring contest that featured a hour-long lightning delay saw the Spartans lose 17-14.


Final Score: Illinois College 17, Aurora University 14
Record: Aurora University 2-3 ; Illinois College 2-2
Location: Decatur, Illinois


- Illinois College got on top early with two runs in the first inning.
- AU sophomore Matt Washington then doubled in the second to score Ryan Buck and Nick Czarnecki.
- The Blue Boys tacked on two more in the third to go up 4-2.
- Senior captain Tyler Patton immediately responded to tie the game with a two-run home run. This only started the monster AU third inning.
- Washington doubled again this time scoring Buck and Kyle Mack.
- A second double in a row for the Spartans came from junior captain Joe Lukancic who brought in Jaden Holgado and Washington.
- Zack Tarran rounded out the trio of Spartan doubles scoring Alex Panico and Lukancic.
- Patton, up for his second time of the inning, then singled in Tarrant during the next at bat.
- AU led 11-4 after three innings of play. 
- Illinois College had a monster inning of their own in the fourth when they scored four more runs, now 11-8.
- Tarrant had a two RBI single in the bottom of the inning, scoring Panico and Holgado.
- The Blue Boys scored two in the sixth before lightning delayed the game for over an hour.
- Back from the delay, they tacked on another to tie the game at 13 runs a piece.
- A three run homer in the seventh put IC on top 16-13.
- Then an error by the Spartans in the eighth gave them a 17-13 lead.
- Lukancic tripled to score Panico in the bottom of the eighth but that would be the last runs of the game.
- AU fell 17-14. 


HITTING:
HITS: Zack Tarrant (5), Joe Lukancic and Ryan Buck (3)
DOUBLES: Isaac Goddard(1)
TRIPLES: Joe Lukancic (1)
HOME RUNS: Tyler Patton (1)
RUNS: Alex Panico (3)
 
PITCHING:
APPEARANCES (innings): Conner Hogan (3.0) and Jimmy Bluemling (2.1)
DECISIONS: Christian Filas (loss 0-1)
STRIKEOUTS: Isaac Goddard, Mason Ishii, and Jacob Maza (1)


Next scheduled action for the Spartan baseball team comes on Saturday, March 7 when they head to Tucson, Arizona and take on Hamline University. First pitch is set for 5:00 pm (mst) / 6:00 pm (cst) at the Kino Sports Complex, in Tucson, Arizona.