ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University baseball team took on Wright State University-Lake on Sunday afternoon in a makeshift doubleheader following the cancellation of the Buona Beef Restaurants Classic. The teams played two seven-inning games, with the Thunder taking game one by a score of 5-3, and swept the day with a 3-2 victory in the second game of the set.
Trine is 9-8 overall with one non-conference contest remaining while Wright State-Lake of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is now 5-9 in the 2023 season.
GAME ONE RECAP:
Starting pitcher Josh Hoogewerf was off to an efficient start with a 1-2-3 top of the first and one batter reaching in the second via an error. The offense was able to give the right-hander some run support in the bottom of the second with two runs on three hits. A leadoff walk by Cory Erbskorn was followed by singles from Avery Fulford, Daniel Rumberger and Matthew Martin to go up 2-0.
The Thunder tacked on another run in the third when Erbskorn left the yard for the first time this season, a frozen rope over the left field wall. Then in the fourth inning, Adam Stefanelli drove in a pair of runs with a single to left to make it 5-0.
After four innings of one-hit baseball, the Lakers were able to touch up Hoogewerf a tad, but not enough to break even. Wright State-Lake swiped a few bases in the inning to put themselves in scoring position, and three singles did the trick for two runs.
Two singles in the sixth allowed the game's tying run to reach the batter's box, but Cole Decker entered from the Trine bullpen and kept the team in front. After the runners reached second and third, Decker was able to induce two groundouts to end the inning unscathed.
The same situation in the seventh inning arose with the tying run at the plate, and reliever Noah Brettin stepped up and got a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out with catcher Matt Weis to end the game. Hoogewerf (2-1) tossed 5.1 innings and retired two on strikes. Decker had one full inning in relief and Brettin notched his second save of the campaign by facing the game's final batter.
Martin, Stefanelli and Fulford had two hits each and Erbskorn recorded the team's only extra base hit with his homerun.
GAME TWO RECAP:
The lead-off hitter Martin laced a double into center field to put Trine on the board first in game two. An error moved the runner to third base and Robert Kortas drove him in with a fielder's choice. The Thunder looked to add on thanks to a single by Dalton Nikirk and walk by Erbskorn, but they left the bases loaded.
In the third inning, Wright State-Lake was able to claim their first lead of the day with two runs, but Cam Nagel induced an inning-ending double play Stefanelli to Fulford to Nikirk to minimize the damage. Easton Rhodes hit a single up the middle that resulted in a throwing error deep in the hole by the opposing second baseman to score Nikirk, who led off the frame with a base on balls. That play knotted the game back up at two.
After a dicey first few innings, Nagel settled in and did not allow a hit for the remainder of the seven-inning contest. He struck out five of the 13 remaining batters and pinch hitter Jack Kletzly was able to put him in position to get the victory on the bump.
The fifth inning saw Nikirk once again start with a walk and a pair of outs moved the runner to third. Kletzly stepped into the batter's box with two outs and the go-ahead run 90 feet from home and found a gap up the middle for an RBI single on a check swing.
Nagel slammed the door shut and completed the game by throwing all seven innings for Trine. His final statline read 7.0 innings, five hits, two runs, two walks and six strikeouts. Four hits were diversified among four different hitters in the game, but Stefanelli reached base three times on walks and Nikirk twice.
The Thunder play host to Ohio Northern University on Tuesday, March 28 at Jannen Field beginning at 4 p.m.