Racers WHAC Baseball Tournament Run Ends in Split
Location: Adrian, Mich. (SHU Baseball Diamond)
Scores: #15 UNOH 6, Madonna 3; #5 Davenport 3, UNOH 2
Records: UNOH 42-13; MU 37-15; DU 47-8
Next UNOH Event: Tues. May 12 - NAIA National Tournament Opening Round – TBA
ADRIAN, Mich. – The University of Northwestern Ohio baseball team entered the third day of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday knowing they needed three wins to win the tournament. The Racers played well, but in the end, they were only able to extend their stay to the tournament's final day.
UNOH opened the day with a 6-3 win over Madonna University, sending the Crusaders home to wait and see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NAIA Tournament. Immediately after the win over Madonna, the Racers faced the Davenport Panthers, and despite playing well, the Racers took the loss, 3-2.
UNOH opened the scoring in the first game with an RBI-single from Brandon Collins in the top of the third frame, but Madonna came right back to take the lead at 2-1 with a pair of tallies in the bottom of the frame. Kyle Fisher executed a safety squeeze bunt in the top of the fourth that gave the Racers the lead as Justin Cummings scored on the bunt, and Ryan Lozada came all the way around from first to score on a throwing error on the play. Collins picked up his second RBI of the game later in the stanza, giving the Racers a 4-2 lead after the top of the fourth.
Madonna picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Racers' lead to 4-3, but the Racers added single runs in the sixth and the seventh on RBI base hits from Collins and Rafael Lozada to finish the scoring as the Racers took the win 6-3.
Patricio Pena (1-0) picked up the win, earning his first decision of the season by retiring all eight hitters he faced in the game in relief of Ryan Burns. Alex DeYonker (5-4) took the loss for Madonna, and Brodie Mitchell (1) earned the three-inning save.
Collins was 3-for-6 in the game with three RBIs, running his total to 62 Runs Batted In for the season. Fisher was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while both Lozadas and Cory Cook each had multi-hit games.
In the second game of the day, Ryan Carter and Corey Murphy engaged in a pitchers' duel from the start.
Davenport threatened early on in the game, and they appeared poised to take the early lead when in the top of the fourth, The Panthers got a single with two outs that appeared as though it would score Matt Priebe. Ryan Lozada, however, had other ideas, firing a strike to Cook at the plate who tagged Priebe to end the inning.
Davenport finally broke through in the top of the fifth frame, chasing Carter with three runs to take a 3-0 lead. John Schreiber and Jeff Rousseau kept the Panthers at bay for the rest of the afternoon, and that gave the Racers a chance to get back in the game.
Fisher led off the bottom of the sixth inning, with a double, later scoring on an RBI-single from Jhonniel Alvarez, cutting the lead to 3-1. In the eighth frame, Alvarez scored Fisher on a ground out to trim the deficit to 3-2, but Davenport held on as the Racers went in order in the ninth, falling 3-2.
Murphy (7-4) allowed two runs in seven and two-thirds innings, taking the win, while Carter (6-2) took the loss after yielding three runs – only one of which was earned – on five hits in four and two-thirds. Jonathan Cheshire (12) earned the save.
Fisher was the brightest spot in the Racers' lineup, posting a 2-for-3 game with a pair of runs scored, and Alvarez added two RBIs.
UNOH will now await the release of the NAIA Opening Round Brackets, which will take place on Friday evening.