No. 17 UNOH Sweeps Rochester with Shutout

LIMA, Ohio – The University of Northwestern Ohio baseball team took two from Rochester College on Friday afternoon and looked to complete the sweep on Saturday morning as the two teams concluded the weekend Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference series.

No. 17 UNOH (23-10, 13-1 WHAC) dominated on both sides of the field as the Racers shutout the Warriors (5-14, 3-9 WHAC) by a score of 9-0 at Racers Field.

The scoring opened for the Racers in the first inning as Erich Gonzalez singled through the left side and drove in Jeff Cardenas from second base.

In the second inning, Carlos Baerga, Jr. reach via a throwing error on the Warriors' starting pitcher and advanced to third on the play as UNOH looked to capitalize on the early mistake. It did not take long as DayFran Ortiz doubled to right field to make it 2-0. A single through the middle of the infield by Jose Paulino drove in two to complete the scoring in the inning.

Pitching and defense took over for both teams from that point through the top of the sixth inning as no team could get a run across home plate while only four runners were left on base in the span before UNOH struck again in the bottom of the sixth.

A two-run home run by Kyle Fisher got the scoring rolling while a Cardenas single to right center scored Paulino to make it 7-0.

In the top of the seventh inning, RC got its first base runner to third base in the contest with two outs in the inning, but UNOH buckled down and escaped without any damage done.

When the game turned to the bottom of the seventh, UNOH needed just three runs to pick up its fourth 10-run rule victory of the week. A two-out, two-RBI double by Ortiz put the Racers within one run of the early finish, but UNOH was unable to get another run across before finishing the contest through nine innings.

Mike Alexander (4-2) earned the victory with an impressive two-hit shutout performance with 7.0 innings pitched while striking out seven batters. Abrahan Flete relieved him in the eighth while Jeff Rousseau closed the game in the ninth with three straight strikeouts.

UNOH will return to action in Lima with a WHAC series against Lourdes University. The series is scheduled to start on Saturday, April 1 with a doubleheader at 1 PM.