Baseball Splits DH with Siena Heights
Location: Lima, Ohio
Scores: Siena Heights 9, #24 UNOH 4; UNOH 3, SHU 2
Records: UNOH 30-8, 18-2 WHAC; SHU 14-18, 9-10 WHAC
Next UNOH Event: Sun. vs. Siena Heights – Lima, Ohio (Racer Field); 1 p.m.
LIMA, Ohio – The University of Northwestern Ohio of baseball team dodged a bullet and missed an opportunity at the same time on Saturday afternoon. The Racers suffered a loss, but they caught a break as they did not lose ground in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference race.
The Racers dropped game one to the Siena Heights University Saints, rallying to win game two and earn the split. The Racers also caught a break, as Indiana Tech earned a split with Davenport to help the Racers keep pace in the WHAC conference title hunt.
UNOH opened a 4-0 lead in game one, scoring a run in the second inning, two in the fourth on a two-run homer from James Cardona, and a run in the fifth. However, in the top of the sixth inning, the Saints turned the tables on the Racers.
Siena Heights scored seven times in the frame, chasing UNOH starter Brodie Mitchell from the game with seven hits and a pair of walks as Siena Heights grabbed a 7-4 lead. The Saints tacked on a run in the seventh and another in the eighth to provide the final margin of victory at 9-4.
Mitchell (5-1) took the loss for the Racers, allowing six earned runs on seven hits in five and two-thirds innings of work. Thomas McCarter (3-3) earned the win, throwing six and two-thirds innings and yielding four earned runs on eight hits.
Cardona was 2-for-4 in the game with the homer and three RBIs, and Brett Akins also had a multi-hit game, posting a 2-for-4 effort with a run scored.
In game two, UNOH again built an early lead. Jose Cruz lofted a sacrifice fly to center to break the ice in the third inning, scoring Zyler Cosby. Cosby reached on an error that allowed Akins to score, and moments later, Brandon Collins ripped a line drive off the leg of Saints' starting pitcher Tayler Thelen for a single that scored Carlos Baerga, Jr. to push the Racers lead to 3-0.
Travis Stricklin picked up a two-RBI single in the top of the fifth with two away, pulling the Saints to within a single run, but the Racers made the lead stand up.
Starting pitcher Ryan Petrangelo held the Saints at bay through the sixth inning, and for the seventh, the Racers called on John Schreiber to nail it down. Schreiber got a strikeout and two groundouts to third in his inning of relief, earning his 12th save of the season to set a new UNOH career record for saves.
Petrangelo (7-0) earned the win, allowing two earned runs on 10 hits in six innings, striking out three hitters in the win. Thelen (1-6) took the loss, lasting three and two-thirds innings and giving up three unearned runs on five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts.
Collins had the only multi-hit game for the Racers in the contest, going 2-for-2 in the game with his 40th RBI of the season.
The two teams will wrap up their four game series on Sunday afternoon with a double-header scheduled for 1 p.m.