Winning 8-5 and Then Losing 6-5 in Nine Innings
BEREA, OHIO — The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team split a key Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader today (Sunday, May 1, 2005) in Westerville and at OAC rival Otterbein College. The Yellow Jackets won the first game, 8-5, but lost the nightcap, 6-5 in nine innings.
With the split, B-W is now 17-11 overall and 9-7 in the OAC and ends its OAC regular season next Saturday, May 7 when it hosts OAC foe Wilmington College in an OAC twinbill at Heritage Field in Berea. Otterbein came into the game in first place in the OAC and is now 19-12 overall and 11-5 in the OAC.
The Yellow Jackets won the opener by outscoring the host Cardinals in a wild seventh inning. Otterbein took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning before B-W tallied three times in the top of the sixth inning for a 3-1 advantage. The Cardinals then scored once in the bottom of the sixth to close to within 3-2.
In the top of the seventh, B-W scored five times to build an 8-2 lead but had to hold on as Otterbein scored three times in the bottom of the inning to make the Yellow Jackets nervous.
Offensively, B-W was led by senior shortstop Jason Albright (Camp Hills, Pennsylvania/ East Pennsboro) and junior left fielder Mike Farrell (Wickliffe) with a pair of hits. One of Farrell's hits was a seventh inning grand slam homerun, his sixth of the season. In addition, senior third baseman Mike Turchan (Mayfield) hit his team-leading eigthth homer in the three-run sixth inning.
On the mound, senior lefthander Aaron Krieger (Bellefontaine) earned the win, his fourth of the season to tie for the team lead, and improved to 4-3 overall. Krieger tossed six and two-thirds innings before receiving relief help from fellow senior Andrew Russell (Indianapolis, Ind./ Eastern Hancock) who earned his team-leading fourth save of the year.
In the nightcap, B-W scored twice in the first inning and three more times in the third and led 5-0 before Otterbein began its comeback. The Cardinals scored twice in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 5-2 and added three more in the fourth to tie it at 5-5 en route to winning the game and gaining their split with a run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Offensively, Albright, junior RF Dan Melito (Massillon/ Washington) and junior second baseman Kevin Brown (Cuyahoga Falls) each had two hits to lead the way. In addition, Turchan homered again, his ninth of the season.
On the mound, senior Bob Glavan (Mentor) started and went the first three innings and was followed by sophomore Jim Wochele (Richmond Heights) for two innings, sophomore J.D. Fullerton (Cuyahoga Falls) for three innings and senior Nick Slater (Wooster/ Norwayne) was tagged with the loss as he pitched the ninth and fell to 2-2 overall. The earned run that Slater allowed in the ninth was the first of the year for him in 12 innings pitched.
In facing Wilmington next Saturday, the Yellow Jackets can secure an OAC Tournament berth by winning two games. Anything less than two wins throws the playoff spot up for grabs.
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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