GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Webster University baseball team was back in action this evening when they traveled to Greenville, Illinois, to take on the Greenville (Ill.) University Panthers for the first game of a three-game series. The Gorloks, who ranked fourth in the first NCAA Division III Baseball Regional Rankings of the season, defeated the Panthers by a final score of 14-8 to improve their record to 26-12 on the season and 16-3 in the SLIAC. With the loss, the Panthers drop to 18-18 on the year and 11-8 in the conference.

The game started off close as both sides scored two runs through the first five innings. Malik Wirges would blast his third homerun of the season in the top of the sixth to break the deadlock, but a run from the Panthers in the bottom half of the inning would tie the score back up at three. Webster would get the bats going in the top of the seventh as they rallied for six runs, including back-to-back homeruns from Nathaniel Martinez (7) and Ben Swords (1), to give themselves a 9-3 lead in the game. The Panthers would cut the lead to 9-7 in the bottom of the seventh, but a three-run homerun from R.J. LaRocco (5) in the top of the eighth would extend Webster's lead back out to five late in the game. Greenville would bring one final run across in the bottom of the eighth, but Webster would pick up two runs in the top of the ninth to solidify their 10^th straight win.

Jordan Smevoll was the starting pitcher for the Gorloks as he allowed three hits and two earned runs while striking out two in 3.2 innings. Alek Elges (6-2), Caleb Zbrozek, and Joel Arsenault pitched in relief as the three combined to allow seven hits and five earned runs while striking out five in 5.1 innings pitched.

Webster tallied 15 hits in the contest. R.J. LaRocco and Nathaniel Martinez led the way for Webster as LaRocco went 2-for-4 with a three-run homerun and Martinez went 2-for-5 with a three-run homerun. In addition, Malik Wirges went 2-for-5 with a solo homerun and two RBI, Ben Swords went 2-for-3 with a solo homerun, Evan Evola went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Mitch Daniels went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Parker Wielt went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

The Gorloks will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, May 6^th when they travel to Greenville, Illinois, to take on the Panthers for the final two games of the series. The first game is set to start at 1 p.m. with the second to follow.