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JOLIET, Ill. – Saturday's match-up between Ripon College and the University of St. Francis (IL) has been a much anticipated event ever since the schedule was released before the season. In what is a unique situation, Ripon head coach Bob Gillespie was in the opposite dugout from his father and St. Francis head coach Gordie Gillespie, who is college baseball's all-time leader in wins. The elder Gillespie was able to add two more wins to his total, as the Saints defeated the Red Hawks 7-2 in game one, and 3-0 in the second contest.
The first game started out well for the Red Hawks (8-3), who took a quick lead with a run in the top of the first. After the lead-off man was retired, Ripon drew two consecutive walks. The first run of the game came two batters later on an Alex Duros single, which scored Bryant Bullock.
St. Francis (17-6) would even things up in the bottom of the second, thanks to a pair of Red Hawk errors. The lead-off batter reached base on the first error, and would score two batters later on the second miscue, tying the game at one.
The Red Hawks would grab the lead again in the fourth, which was started off with a lead-off single by Scott Gillespie, who made the day even more unique with the third generation of Gillespie family in the game. Gillespie would score two batters later on a Kurt Roeder double, giving Ripon a 2-1 lead.
That lead held for the next couple frames, but St. Francis broke the game open in the sixth, putting up six runs in the inning. The Saints tied the game on a single up the middle and proceeded to load the bases. That led to the biggest blow of the game, a three-run double, which gave St. Francis the lead for good.
Gillespie and Roeder led the Red Hawks with two hits apiece. Matt Dwyer (1-1) took the loss, going 5.2 innings, while giving up eight hits and six runs, all unearned. All seven St. Francis runs were unearned.
The second game of the day wasn't nearly as close. St. Francis completely shut down the Red Hawk bats, pitching a combined no-hitter in the nine-inning contest. Only four Ripon batters reached base, one on an error and three via walks.
St. Francis broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a one-out RBI double. The Saints added two more runs in the sixth, when after an out to lead off the inning, Ripon gave up a single, which was followed by a home run over the left field fence, putting St. Francis up 3-0 to complete the sweep.
Mike Lloyd (1-2) took the loss in game two, pitching four innings of six-hit ball, giving up one run and striking out four. Jason Wierschke and Adam Linsmeyer also saw action on the mound, combining for four innings of four-hit ball.
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