ELSAH, Ill. – The Webster University baseball team was back in action this afternoon when they traveled to Elsah, Illinois, to take on the Principia (Ill.) College Panthers for their first SLIAC doubleheader of the season. The Gorloks swept the Panthers as they won the first game by a final score of 11-2 and the second game by a final score of 13-0 (7 inn.) to improve to 9-8 on the year and 2-0 in the SLIAC. With the sweep, Principia drops to 6-10 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.

In their first game against the Panthers, Webster found themselves trailing 1-0 heading into the third. They would score two runs in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead, but another run from the Panthers would tie the score at two midway through the contest. Webster would go on to score three runs in the top of the sixth, three runs in the top of the eighth, and three runs in the top of the ninth to solidify their first SLIAC win of the season.

Jordan Smevoll (1-2) was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out four in 5.2 innings. Caleb Zbrozek pitched in relief as he did not allow a hit while striking out seven in the final 3.1 innings of the game.

Webster rallied for 13 hits in the game. Parker Murrow led the way as he went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. R.J. LaRocco and Evan Evola also recorded multi-hit games as LaRocco went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Evola went 2-for-4 with two RBI. In addition, AJ Simmons went 1-for-1 with an RBI and Andrew Fazio went 1-for-3 with two RBI.

The Gorloks carried over their momentum into the second game and scored three runs in the top of the first to take an early lead. They would go on to add a run in the top of the second, four runs in the top of the third, one run in the top of the fourth, two runs in the top of the fifth, and two runs in the top of the sixth to capture the sweep.

Carter Hunt got the start in this one as he allowed just two hits while striking out three in the first 3.0 innings of the game. Sebastian Barrera picked up his first win of he season as he did not allow a hit while striking out one in 1.0 inning. Adam Hill, Elijah Rompala-Matthews, and Wes Cunningham pitched the final 3.0 innings for Webster allowing just two hits while striking out seven.

The Gorloks tallied 16 hits in the contest. Evan Evola led the way as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Karl Peters, Parker Murrow, and Andrew Fazio also recorded multi-hit games as Peters went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Murrow went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Fazio went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Lastly, R.J. LaRocco went 1-for-3 with two RBI, James Theodore went 1-for-1 with two RBI, Graham Danziger went 1-for-1 with an RBI, Zach Goodman went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Ben Stedman went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

The Gorloks will be back in action on Wednesday, March 27^th when they host the Mississippi University for Women Owls for a SLIAC doubleheader. The first game is set to start at 1 p.m. with the second game to follow at Grizzlies Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois.