WILMORE, Ky. – The Trine University baseball team opened the 2022 season at Asbury University on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Thunder (0-1) came up short versus the Eagles (4-3) by a score of 5-4.
Starting pitcher Josh Hoogewerf [Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point] worked around an Asbury single in the bottom of the first and retired eight in a row as the game remained scoreless after three innings.
Brenden Warner [Richland, Mich. / Hackett Catholic Prep] got into scoring position in the fourth inning after stealing second, but was left on base. The Eagles broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single in the fourth, but Hoogewerf worked out of a jam with runners on second and third to keep it 1-0.
Trine put themselves in the same position of second and third with two away in the fifth, but were unable to come up with a run. A sacrifice fly brought home a run in the bottom half for Asbury to take a 2-0 lead.
Warner sparked a two-out rally in the sixth by drawing a walk, followed by a Jacob Medvescek [Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville] single (the first hit of the game for Trine) and two RBI double from Dalton Nikirk [Bedford, Ind. / Bedford North Lawrence].
Austin Nuessgen [Beavercreek, Ohio / Beavercreek] relieved Hoogewerf with the game tied at two and left a man stranded on base after a one-out double. In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles sent eight batters to the plate as two runs crossed the plate. Nuessgen was able to get the final out with the bases loaded to preserve the 4-2 ballgame.
An Adam Stefanelli [Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North] hit by pitch came around to score in the top of the eighth via a Nikirk single, but the Thunder still trailed 4-3. Cole Decker [Leonidas, Mich. / Mendon / Glen Oaks] came on to pitch in the bottom half of the inning and Asbury was able to plate an insurance run to go up 5-3.
Trine would go down easy in the top of the ninth and took advantage of Eagle mistakes. A walk and hit by pitch put two runners on for the visitors and Steffaneli drove in Matt Weis [Trenton, Ill. / Triad] with a groundout. Avery Fulford [Conifer, Colo. / Conifer] was the game's tying run on second base, but was left stranded in the 5-4 defeat.
Nikirk had two of the team's five hits and drove in three of four runs on the day to lead the Thunder offense. Cory Erbskorn [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold] was successful in his pinch-hit appearance and was 1-for-1.
The three-game set concludes tomorrow, February 27 with a doubleheader against Asbury at 2 pm and 4:30 pm.