ADA, OHIO -- The Trine University baseball team lost a non-conference game against Ohio Northern University, 14-3, at Wander Field in Ada, Ohio.
The Thunder totaled eight hits led by sophomore Nick Ricci (Hebron, Ind./Crown Point) who tallied two hits in three at-bats to go along with a run scored and a RBI.
Six players saw playing time at pitcher with sophomore Shawn Ligocki (West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East) getting the start and lasting three innings while allowing six runs on seven hits and had one strikeout. He was also credited with the loss and falls to 0-2 on the season.
Ohio Northern (11-6) got off to a fast start with back-to-back solo homeruns to begin the game and took an early 2-0 lead. The Polar Bears went on to add another run in the second before blowing the game open with an eight-run fourth inning that included another solo homer to make the score, 11-0.
The ONU offense continued to put runs on the scoreboard in the fifth with two more scores that came on a shot over the right field fence which padded the lead to 13-0.
Trine (7-8) ended the shutout in the seventh as both teams traded runs in the inning with the Thunder's run coming on a solo homerun by Ricci. It also marked the first homerun of the season for Trine as a team who had scored 99 runs without a homer up until that point.
The Thunder recorded the final runs of the game in the top of the eighth on a two-RBI single by sophomore Jacob Douglas (Frankfort, Ind./Western) that scored junior Jason Hoida (Niles, Mich./Niles) and freshman Shayne Devine (Valparaiso, Ind./Portage).
But the runs came a little too late for Trine as the Thunder would not rally from the earlier deficit and the Polar Bears went on to claim the 14-3 final.
Trine will resume Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association play with a four-game series against Calvin (Mich.) College beginning with a doubleheader on Thursday, Mar. 29 in Grand Rapids, Mich. The first game of the twinbill is scheduled for 2 p.m.