NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Trine University baseball team was able to prevail in a midweek non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon at Manchester University. The Thunder, who had their home game moved to a road affair at Manchester, defeated the Spartans 13-10 in 11 innings.
Manchester was down five late before mounting a comeback and knotting the game up at 10 in the bottom of the eighth. Trine manufactured three runs in the top of the eleventh to secure the victory and move to 7-8 overall. The Spartans are 8-6 following the loss.
A two-run homerun in the bottom of the first for Manchester was countered by two runs for the Thunder in the next half inning. Joel Walton led off the frame with a double and Cory Erbskorn traded places with him after knocking a double into the outfield himself. An error aided in Trine's second run of the inning.
After the Spartans retook the lead 3-2, the Thunder put together a four-run top of the third to provide insurance for the starter Michael Brucker. Matthew Martin and Robert Kortas reached base via singles and Walton drove in a run with an RBI double. He and Kortas would both score on consecutive wild pitches. After Dalton Nikirk drew a walk on the next at-bat, Avery Fulford delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3 through three innings.
Back-to-back longballs for Manchester in the fourth allowed the home team to draw closer, but the hitters remained hot for Trine with four straight hits to begin the fifth, including an RBI single from Nikirk. On the defensive side of the ball, catcher Matt Weis gunned down a runner trying to swipe second to end the fifth, his second caught stealing of the day.
The duo of Walton and Nikirk delivered once more in the sixth as a bases loaded fielder's choice brought in a run for the designated hitter Walton and Nikirk drove in both Adam Stefanelli and Walton with a double to left center. Those at-bats made it 10-5 Thunder.
A three-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth and two more runs scored in the eighth for the Spartans got the teams right back to where they started in a deadlock, this time at 10-10. Trine threatened in the top of the ninth after Fulford singled and Weis doubled down the right field line, but a putout at the plate would not allow the Thunder to strike.
After entering from the bullpen the inning prior, Noah Brettin was able to keep the game moving in both the ninth and tenth innings when the offense was unable to come through for a run. The top of the eleventh would be the inning to break the game open for Trine.
Fulford was hit by a pitch, the fifth of the game from the Manchester pitching staff, to start the inning and pinch hitter Easton Rhodes moved him 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt. Daniel Rumberger was able to replicate what Weis did earlier with a double down the right field line to score the go-ahead run. Martin and pinch hitter Jack Kletzly added on with an RBI single each.
Brettin completed his fourth inning of work with a 1-2-3 bottom of the eleventh to get the win (2-2) in a 13-10 ballgame. He surrendered six hits and two runs without allowing a walk and three were sat down on strikes. Cole Decker also tossed a scoreless inning in relief with one hit and one strikeout in the seventh.
Eight of the nine spots in the lineup produced hits for the Thunder, led by three each by Kortas and Walton. Nikirk drove in a team-high three runs while Martin and Walton each scored three times. The team had just three strikeouts in 59 plate appearances.
This weekend Trine will head west to Illinois to compete in the Buona Beef Restaurants Classic and will face North Central College in the opening game on Saturday, March 25. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. CST.