Racers Survive Offensive Battle to Advance in WHAC Tournament

ROCKFORD, MI - UNOH baseball stayed unbeaten in the WHAC Tournament Thursday earning a hard fought win over Aquinas in a 28-run showdown to advance to the semifinals where they will meet Concordia on Friday.

It was a steady flow of offense all game with at least one of the two teams scoring in all but one inning. The Racers hit first scoring one in the first but the Saints put up two in the second to take an early lead. UNOH continued to produce runs scoring one in the third, fourth and fifth to hold a 4-2 lead through five innings. The consistent trickle of offense turned into an all out tsunami in the sixth as the two teams exploded for 16 combined runs and turned a low scoring affair into a 13-9 ball game entering the seventh. The two kept finding ways to score runs trading one each in the seventh with Aquinas adding one more in the eighth. A two run homer from Eliomar Otero dealt the fatal blow in the home half of the frame with one final run crossing the plate to finish off a 17-11 win for the Racers.

Joskar Feliciano led the team going 3-4 with three RBI in the game. Eliomar Otero also finished with three RBI going 2-4 with a double and a home run. Noah Matheson followed up his two-home run outing Wednesday with a double and a triple on Thursday ending the game 4-6 at the dish with two RBI. Devon Tukes and Nolan Hull both logged a multi-hit game driiving in one RBI each.

For the second time in two days, six different Racers took the mound with Aidan Nugent (2-0) earning the win after controlling the bump as his team took back the lead for a final time in the sixth. Nugent allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits over an inning and two-thirds striking out one and walking one. Eliott Traver took over a 14-10 game in the eighth with runners on first and second to pick up his seventh save of the season. Traver finished the final inning and two-thirds without giving up a run and allowing just one hit striking out two and walking one.

UNOH will now face the number two team in the WHAC, Concordia, for a trip to the championship game. The Cardinals also remained unbeaten in the tournament with a tight 4-3 victory over third-seed Indiana Tech. The two teams will square off as the third of three games at Meijer Sports Complex on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 PM.