July 5, 2008 | DANVILLE, IL After scoring sixteen runs in their last two games, the DuPage Dragons came into Saturday night’s contest believing they would put up a bunch of runs again. The Danville Dans had other ideas, and they blanked the Dragons by a score of 3-0. The loss drops DuPage to 12-11 while Danville improved to 10-12.
Dragons starter Andrew Beatty (SIU-Edwardsville) got off to a little bit of a rough start in the first inning. After getting the first hitter to fly out, Beatty plunked Dan Kaczrowski to put a runner on first. A passed ball advanced the runner to second, and a single by Andrew Pollack scored Kaczrowski to give the Dans the early 1-0 lead. A walk and another single loaded the bases for Danville, but Beatty struck out the next two hitters to escape the jam.
Beatty settled down after that, cruising through the next four innings without giving up a run. He ran into trouble again in the sixth, as John Dishon earned a leadoff walk for the Dans. Tyler Park followed up with a double that scored Dishon from first and kept a runner in scoring position. After a pop out, Zach Walters singled to put runners on the corners. Walters stole second before Beatty recorded a strikeout. With two-outs in the inning, a wild pitch scored Park from third and the Dragons now trailed the Dans 3-0.
The pitching for both sides was great all day. Tom Filip (Baylor) came on in relief of Beatty in the seventh. It was his third relief appearance in four days, and he was impressive again, giving up only one hit while striking out three. For the road trip, Filip pitched five and 1/3 innings, giving up only three hits while striking out six and didn’t walk a batter. Danville starter John Foley kept the Dragons off balanced. He went seven innings, scattering five hits while striking out three in picking up the win. He never had more than one baserunner on in an inning, and no runner advanced beyond second base. Greg Houston picked up the save for the Dans. Leftfielder Mark Noth (Belmont) had the only multi-hit game for the Dragons, going 2-for-4 on the night.
The DuPage Dragons return home Monday night, July 7th, when they take on the Quincy Gems at 7:05 pm at the Lisle Sports Complex at Benedictine University. Tickets start at $6 with kids five and under admitted free. Group rates are available by calling the Dragons' ticket office at 630-241-2255. |
