Berea in an Ohio Athletic Conference Doubleheader
BEREA, OHIO — The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team won a pair of games against Ohio Athleic Conference and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University, 6-5 and 9-4, today (Tuesday, April 11, 2005) at Heritage Field in Berea. B-W won the first game with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning and overcame a 4-1 deficit in the nightcap by scoring eight runs in its final two at-bats.
The Yellow Jackets have won six straight and five consecutive OAC games as they improved to 12-6 overall and 6-2 in the OAC. The wins also give B-W a seven-game winning streak against JCU dating back to 2002. With its losses, the Blue Streaks fall to 11-9 overall and 2-4 in the OAC.
In the first game, with the score deadlocked at 0-0 in the top of the fifth inning, JCU's Mike D'Andrea hit a three-run homerun giving the Blue Streaks a 3-0 advantage. B-W would answer the challenge by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run double by junior centerfielder Matt Green (Elyria/ Senior), to take a 5-3 lead.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Blue Streaks scored twice to tie the game at 5-5 and set the stage for B-W's winning tally. With two outs, junior All-OAC rightfielder Dan Melito (Massillon/ Washington) reached base on a fielding error by the third baseman. Senior two-time All-OAC third baseman Mike Turchan (Mayfield Heights) made that error hurt as he hit a game-winning RBI double into the rightfield corner that scored Melito from first base to give B-W its 6-5 victory.
Offensively, the Yellow Jackets had eight hits and were led by sophomore designated hitter Nick Quarando (Amherst/ Steele) who had a pair. On the mound, senior righthander Bob Glavan (Mentor) started and pitched six and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs, eight hits and striking out two batters before yielding to senior relief ace Nick Slater (Wooster/ Norwayne). By virtue of the winning run being scored in the bottom of the seventh, Slater improved to 2-0 overall and continues to have a 0.00 earned run average in seven and one-third innings of work this spring. JCU's Marc Vertock pitched one and two-thirds innings and was credited with the loss to fall to 1-2 this season.
In the second game, B-W jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a RBI double by Turchan. John Carroll took the lead scoring four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Then B-W began its comeback.
The Yellow Jackets scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to consecutive fielding errors by the Blue Streaks allowing senior All-OAC shortstop Jason Albright (Camp Hll, Pa./ East Pennsboro), junior second baseman Kevin Brown (Cuyahoga Falls) and Melito all to score. B-W added another run in the same inning on a sacrifice flyout by Quarando plating Turchan to give B-W a 5-4 lead after five innings. B-W then secured the win with four more runs in the sixth en route to the 9-4 victory and the sweep of its arch rivals. A sacrifice fly by Brown plated one run, a double by Melito plated two more with a double. The final run scored via a third strike and subsequent wild pitch.
At the plate,B-W had 10 base hits, including three by Turchan and a pair by Albright. Turchan and Melito each had three RBI in the contest. On the mound, Yellow Jacket sophomore righthander Jim Wochele (Richmond Heights) started the game and pitched four and one-third innings before giving way to sophomore righthanded reliever J.D. Fullerton (Cuyahoga Falls). Fullerton shut the door on the Blue Streaks as he earned the win to improve to 1-0 overall. In two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief, JCU starter Matt McKinnon was credited with the loss and fell to 1-2 overall.
The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Thursday, April14 when they travel to Hiram, Ohio to play nonleague rival Hiram College in a single nine-inning game at 3:30 p.m.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please call Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, FAX him at 440-826-2329 or e-mail him at kruple@bw.edu.
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