The Dominican University baseball team opened the 2017 season on Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville, Illinois, falling to the MacMurray College Highlanders 5-3, stranding the tying run in scoring position in the top of the ninth, one of five runners left on base in the loss.
 
Colin Janison got the opening day start for the Stars, surrendering four runs over 5.2 innings of work.  The junior right-hander allowed six hits and walked two while logging three strikeouts before giving way to Daniel Supple for the final seven outs.
 
After the Highlanders got single runs in the bottom of the first and fifth innings to take a 2-0 lead, the Stars evened the score in the top of the six when KJ Wilk tripled to plate Joe Kukla and Royce Salay as the first three runners reached safely in the frame.  However, Wilk was stranded at third and MacMurray reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs on three hits to chase Janison from the game.
 
The Highlanders tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh before Dominican was able to plate its third run of the game in the top of the eighth when Salay tripled, his second hit of the game, and later scored on an error.
 
After the Highlanders went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, the Stars put the first two hitters on in the top of the ninth with Frankie Sessa leading off with a single before freshman Mike Buckley walked for the second time in the ballgame.  After sacrificing the runners to second and third, the Highlanders got the final two outs, including a punchout to end the game.
 
Wilk and Salay logged two hits apiece as the Stars managed seven hits as a team.

"We saw their ace today and he was pretty good," said head coach Steve Hardman. "We could not make the necessary adjustments offensively until he was out of the game in the seventh. Unfortunately we ran out of outs."

"It was encouraging," continued Hardman. "We saw a lot of good things from young guys. We have to regroup and get the job done tomorrow."
 
The Stars will return to the diamond on Sunday with a doubleheader with MacMurray to round out the three-game series against the Highlanders.  Game one is slated to start at 11:00 a.m.