Bushnell walkoff gives Burlington Five Straight Wins

Burlington, IA - Griffen Bushnell (Mount Mercy) delivered a clutch RBI single through the right side in the 10th inning, scoring Caleb Seibers (Olney Central) and lifting the Burlington Bees (6-2) to their fifth straight victory with a win over the Quincy Doggy Paddlers (3-5) at Community Field June 5.

The Bees are undefeated at home.

The game began with a thirty minute weather delay and turned into a pitcher's duel, being 1-0 going into the sixth.  

Reese Ellison (Bethel) got the start, tossing five scoreless with a hit allowed. The lefty left the bases loaded in the fifth.

Burlington got on the board in the first, Connor Kave (Harper College) singled to start the game. The outfielder extended his hitting streak to seven. He moved from first to third on two wild pitches.

Corey Boyette (Lispcomb) hit into a sacrifice fly to score him. The lefty has an RBI in every game since joining the team on Saturday. 

Quincy's starter Jason Schmierer threw six innings of one run ball to keep it a low scoring effort. 

The Paddlers offense came alive late, scoring one in the sixth, three in the seventh and one in the eighth. 

Trailing 3-1 going into the stretch, Burlington had a big answer. The team hit through the order to take the lead. 

Kila Teixeira (Hawaii-Pacific) was hit by a pitch and Conor Fitzpatrick (Eureka) grounded out to move the runners into scoring position. 

Bushnell scored on a wild pitch and Kave grounded out to score Teixeira and pull the team within one.

Ryan Skwarek (McHenry) hit by pitch to extend the inning. Boyette came up big, singling to tie the game. 

Caleb Seibers (Olney Central) gave the team the lead on a bloop single and made it 5-4. 

After Quincy tied it, the Bees had big pitching from the back end of their bullpen. Kyle Smith (UHSP) threw 1.1 innings, allowing no earned runs.

Mitchell Cox (Crown College) got a big out to get out the eighth. 

Braeden Sunken (Maryville) got the win with two innings out of relief. The righty moves to 2-0, stranding a runner on third in the tenth. 

In the tenth, with the runner on second, Nolan Grawe (SDSU) flew out to move Seibers to third. Bushnell came up and gave the team the win.

Quincy had its two game win streak snapped. The team returns home, facing off against Illinois Valley (3-5) tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. 

Burlington continues its homestand, facing off against the Clinton Lumberkings (5-4)  June 6 at 6:30 p.m. It is the first Fireworks Night of the year