WESTVILLE, Ind. - Doing their best to make up games that the April rains washed away, the Trine University baseball squad traveled to Purdue North Central for a pair of non-conference games where the Thunder took game one 5-0 but fell 6-0 in the nightcap.
Trine (16-13) used a combined four-hit shutout from senior Jake Rightnowar (Oregon, Ohio/Toledo Christian) and junior Jeremy Spalding (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Central Catholic) to take the game one victory.
The Thunder would get all the run support they would need in the top of the first. After a leadoff single by freshman Carter Stafford (Waterloo, Ind./DeKalb), one out later senior Tom Wilder (Petersburg, Mich./Summerfield) put runners on the corners with a single through the left side. Sophomore Jordan Baer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Leo) then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to score Stafford from third.
In the third, the Thunder added a pair of runs as Stafford got things started once again with a leadoff walk. Again it would be Wilder delivering for the Thunder as he launched his second homer run of the season over the left field fence.
Trine added another pair of runs in the fifth after junior Adam Sullivan (Fort Wayne, Ind./Elmhurst) reached on an error to start the inning. Stafford would follow with a bunt single. Wilder would step in with one out, and once again deliver the key hit for the Thunder with a double to left center, scoring both runners.
In the seventh, the Panthers would get a pair of runners on but Spaulding would come on to retire the next three batters to preserve the victory.
Rightnowar finished the afternoon allowing four hits over six innings and striking out two to earn his third win of the season. Spaulding retired all three batters her faced, including one via the strikeout.
It was a complete reversal in game two as it was the Panthers who wouldn’t allow a run as the Thunder managed just two hits off PNC’s Sam Maxwell.
The Panthers plated two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-out single. They would add two more in the second, both of which came with two outs. PNC would add a run in the third and the sixth as Trine’s best chance to get on the board came in the top of the fifth. With one out, junior Jeff Phillips (Prospect, Ohio/Marion Pleasant) and Sullivan reached on back-to-back hits but were stranded in scoring position.
Senior Kyle Lidster (Griffith, Ind./Griffith) took the loss on the mound lasting five innings while allowing five runs, three earned, on 10 hits while striking out one. Sophomore C.J. Burnett (North Vernon, Ind./Jennings County) allowed a hit and a run without retiring a batter in the sixth. Fellow sophomore Edward Tomich (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) came on to retire all three batters he faced.
Wilder led the Thunder on the day going 4-for-7 at the plate while driving in four runs. Despite only playing in the first game, Stafford led the Thunder on the day with three runs scored and adding two hits.
Trine returns to the diamond on April 23 when they travel to Heidelberg for a single nine inning game beginning at 4:00 p.m.