GREENVILLE, Ill. - The baseball team completed their regular season with a doubleheader split against Spalding at Robert E. Smith Field on Saturday. Between games, the Panthers honored seniors Isaac Whitten, Adam Lamb, Cole Becker, and Jonah Moore for their commitment to the Greenville baseball program and then went out to win the final game against Spalding with a walkoff single by Matthew Schroeder in the bottom of the ninth.
Spalding took the early lead in game one, pushing across two runs in the top of the second and three in the top of the third for a 5-0 advantage. In the sixth inning, the Golden Eagles added four runs.
Lamb drew the starting pitching nod and went five innings, giving up eight runs, six earned, on nine hits. Lukas Whitten relieved Lamb in the sixth and closed the game with two innings, only permitting one unearned run.
The Panther bats did not have an answer for Spalding starting pitcher Jack Parisi who worked all seven innings in the shutout with 11 strikeouts.
Austin Lawrence picked up a pair of hits in the game as he went 2-for-3.
After the senior day ceremony between games, the Panther bats came alive for two runs in the bottom of the first inning to establish a 2-0 lead.
Klaiton Wolff provided Greenville with an RBI double to score Ryan Taylor, and after a single by Sam Hodges, Joe Wood stepped to the plate and delivered an RBI single.
In the top of the third, Spalding reached starting pitcher Sam Alender for two runs, and they added single runs in the top of the fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ty Maxie singled to right center, bringing Wolff home to score and cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Wood tied the game at 4-all with a home run to left field as he led off the eighth inning. Greenville stranded runners at first and second to end the eighth.
After working around a two-out double from Spalding in the top of the ninth to retire the side, the Panthers received a one-out double from Wolff to put the winning run in scoring position.
Hodges was intentionally walked, and Wood provided a single to right center to load the bases for Greenville.
Maxie struck out swinging for the second out, but Matthew Schroeder sent the home fans away happy with an RBI single to center field to end the game and complete the series win against the SLIAC east division champion.
Wolff and Wood both managed to go 3-for-5 in the second game. Taylor added a 2-for-5 performance.
Alender pitched six innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on five hits.
Austin Rexroad relieved Alender with three innings, only permitting one hit with two strikeouts. Rexroad improved to 4-1 with the winning pitching decision.
The Panthers (22-15) will next play in the SLIAC tournament on Thursday against nationally ranked Webster, the tournament's number two seed and winner of the SLIAC's western division. Greenville's doubleheader scheduled at Eureka on Monday will not be contested.