Baseball Takes Control of First Place with Sweep of LTU

UTICA, MI - UNOH baseball took sole possession of first place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference on Saturday with a thrilling 7-4 comeback victory at Lawrence Tech before taking the nightcap comfortably, 11-5. With the league's second and third place teams - Concordia and Lawrence Tech - splitting a pair of games Friday night, the two wins Saturday put the Racers in control of the top spot with a perfect 11-0 record, two games up on Concordia (11-2). The two wins also extend their winning streak to 15 straight, the program's longest since 2017 (27).

UNOH plated one to start the game but Lawrence Tech put up two in the home first to take the lead. The team's matched their first inning production in the third and the Blue Devils held a 4-2 lead after four. The Racers continued to dig out of the hole adding one in the fifth and one in the seventh holding LTU scoreless in the final five innings to tie the game 4-4 after the scheduled seven innings. With two outs in the top of the eighth, UNOH finally got the offense on track thanks to some help from the Blue Devils. The Racers strung together three singles with two hit batters and a bases loaded walk that scored three and put them up 7-4. Jack Olberding took care of the final at-bat allowing one walk but retiring three of four batters faced to complete the comeback victory.

Joskar Feliciano led the team with three RBI while Darius Freeman went 2-3 - two doubles - as the only Racer with multiple hits. Five pitchers combined for the eight-inning win with Jack Olberding (1-0) earning the decision after tossing the final inning and a third allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.

UNOH took control early in game two scoring three in the first and two in the third to go up 5-0 through three. The Blue Devils finally broke through with two in the fourth but the Racers answered right back with a five run fifth inning. Lawrence Tech managed two in the bottom of the inning but UNOH held a comfortable 10-4 lead after six. Both teams traded a run in the final frame but the damange was done in an 11-5 win for the Racers.

Nolan Hull led the way with four RBI going 2-4 in the game. Noah Matheson went 3-3 for his first perfect outing of the season driving in two. Darius Freeman was stellar again going 2-3 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games with multiple in five of the last six. Freeman also tallied four stolen bases in the game matching the program record as part of a season high ten steal game for the Racers.

AJ Buchman (3-2) earned the win going four and a third innings allowing four runs off four hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Nick Soller finished the final two and two-thirds with one on three hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

UNOH will look to keep their winning streak alive as they begin a six-game home stand this week. They will host third-place Siena Heights (13-13, 7-3) in a doubleheader on Wednesday before a four-game weekend series against Lourdes (6-18, 5-7).