LEESBURG, FLA. -- The Trine University baseball team remained unbeaten in its current road trip to Florida with a 4-2 win against Clark (Mass.) University at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg, Fla. The victory increased the Thunder's current win streak to five games.
Junior pitcher Drew Cebulak (Oakmont, Pa./Central Catholic) helped lead the defensive efforts on the mound by striking out seven batters in seven-and-a-third innings while allowing just a pair of runs on six hits. He was also credited with his first win of the season in his first start and third overall appearance and is now 1-0 on the year.
Senior hurler Caleb Deiter (Whiteland, Ind./Whiteland Community) got his second save of the season after pitching a scoreless inning and two thirds and gave up just two hits in addition to a strikeout.
Offensively, Trine had four hits by four different players. Senior Chase Hall (Orleans, Ind./Orleans) and junior Shayne Devine (Valparaiso, Ind./Portage) both had a hit in two at-bats and Devine also added a RBI. Juniors A.J. Mitchell (Emmett, Mich./Kellogg CC) and Jake Conley (Moline, Ill./Black Hawk CC) both went one-of-three at the plate with Mitchell also driving in a run and Conly had a run scored.
Clark (3-5) grabbed the early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning that came on a run scoring single and double later in the inning. The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when Trine (6-2) got on the scoreboard with a run thanks to a sacrifice fly by Mitchell with freshman J.D. Duvall (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood Local) at third base.
The run in the fifth was the beginning of four unanswered runs by Trine that continued in the sixth with two more scores by way of a passed ball with bases loaded and then a defensive error that gave the Thunder a 3-2 advantage. Trine tacked on a final run in the seventh on a RBI-double by Devine that scored Conley who also hit a double two batters earlier.
The Cougars had runners on base in both the eighth and ninth innings, including having runners at second and third in the ninth, but the combination of Cebulak and Deiter on the mound and solid defense behind them, kept Clark from scoring the tying and potentially the go-ahead run from crossing home plate en route to the 4-2 victory.
Trine continues its "southern swing" tomorrow (Thursday, Mar. 5) with a single game against Milwaukee (Wis.) School of Engineering at Lake Myrtle Complex in Auburndale, Fla. The nine-inning game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.