DELAWARE, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University baseball team took on Ohio Christian for a pseudo-doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Littick Field. The Battling Bishops and the Trailblazers picked up where they left off on March 14th for game one, starting in the top of the eighth inning tied 0-0 and playing to a 5-4 winning result for the Bishops. Game two went the opposite way, with OCU taking a low-scoring seven-inning game, 3-1.
Ohio Wesleyan moves to 12-18 on the season. Ohio Christian moves to 16-20.
GAME ONE: OHIO WESLEYAN 5, OHIO CHRISTIAN 4
Game one had all the offense it was lacking 35 days prior, with the two sides combining for nine runs in just two innings – eight runs came in the eighth, split evenly between the two sides at four apiece.
OWU led off the top of the eight with back-to-back flyouts – playing as the away team in the game that started in Circleville.
Alex Snyder finally scored the game's first run with a blast to left center for his seventh homer of the season.
Zane Vitense followed with a double to left center before stealing third to continue the two-out rally. Then
Nik Hilton sent another ball over the left centerfield fence to give the Bishops a 3-0 lead. The fourth run of the inning was scored by
Nate Colyer who reached on a single up the middle and advanced to third on a subsequent single and an error.
Those four runs ended up being all for naught as Ohio Christian eventually tied the game up with one swing. Following two singles and an error to load the bases, OCU's D.J. Crocker hit a grand slam to left center, making it a brand new 4-4 ballgame.
Reynaldo Pelaez ended up playing hero for the Battling Bishops on the basepaths in the top of the ninth inning, after he striped a single to shortstop. Pelaez soon worked his way to third with the help of productive outs from
Michael Malone and
Brody Miller. Finally, he seized an opportunity to score on a wild pitch to put Ohio Wesleyan back up 5-4.
It all came down to defense for the Bishops, trying to close out the bottom of the ninth in their familiar confines. Marcus Suwinksi – who had been pitching since the sixth inning – secured the first two outs.
Hank Holman was called upon with a one-run lead in jeopardy after the Trailblazers began to threaten. It took Holman no more that four pitches to get the save, earning a groundout to third to end the game 5-4.
Grant Castle started the game on March 14th, pitching five innings of no-hit baseball while striking out three. Suwinski (W, 1-0) continued the no-hitter through the seventh inning and pitched into the ninth, allowing three earned runs on four hits with one strikeout in his first career win. Holman closed the door for his fourth save of the season.
Hilton and Snyder provided the power with homers to left center. Hilton plated two while Snyder's was a solo shot.
Vitense was 3-for-5 overall with a double and a run scored.
Colyer came in at 2-for-4 for the game with a run scored.
Pelaez reached in his only at-bat, coming around to score after singling.
GAME TWO: OHIO WESLEYAN 1, OHIO CHRISTIAN 3
The rest of the day was a much different tale as Ohio Wesleyan moved back to batting in their normal home slot at the bottom of every inning. A predetermined seven-inning game due to threats of rain and darkness, game two stayed scoreless until the fourth inning where Ohio Christian took a two-run lead before adding another run in the top of the fifth to make it 3-0.
The Battling Bishops were kept quiet for the majority of what was left of the afternoon, garnering just three hits in the night cap. OWU's only true offensive productivity came in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff solo shot from
Michael Malone. That would be the last hit of the game for either side, leaving a 3-1 final score for OCU.
Grant Castle (L, 0-2) technically started both games on the day – having pitched at the start of game one on March 14th. He went 3.2 innings in game two with two earned runs on five hits, one walk, and a career-high five strikeouts.
Nate Cory came in to finish the fourth inning, recording just the one out necessary to do so.
Tyler Mathews pitched 2.0 innings with one earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out two.
J.J. Earley finished it off, pitching a hitless seventh and getting one strikeout.
Malone nabbed the only RBI and run scored of the game with a homer, going 1-for-3.
The other two hits for the Bishops came off the bats of
Holden Tomlin and
Zane Vitense, who both went 1-for-2 with walks.
UP NEXT
The Battling Bishops head to Ada on Monday for a 4 p.m. first pitch at Ohio Northern. That game was originally scheduled for April 1st.
