ANGOLA, Ind. – In the final non-conference game of the 2023 season, the Trine University baseball team fell to Ohio Northern University by a score of 5-3. The Thunder overcame and first-inning deficit and brought the game back to tied, but late scoring and insurance gave the Polar Bears the win.
Trine sits at .500 heading into Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play with a record of 9-9. Ohio Northern advances to 12-6 on the year.
Catcher Matt Weis retired the leadoff man trying to swipe second for the Polar Bears after drawing a walk to start the game. A single and an error allowed two others to reach and a homerun brought three runs home for Ohio Northern to begin the game.
The Thunder got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning. A leadoff walk by Matthew Martin put him on base for Adam Stefanelli. The senior third baseman ripped a double to deep left to score a run for the home squad.
Starting pitcher Michael Brucker sat his opponents down 1-2-3 in the top of the second to silence the Polar Bear bats. Kade Keele would enter from the bullpen in the third and stranded a pair of runners to keep the score at 3-1.
Trine scratched across a run in both the fourth and fifth innings to knot things back up. A pair of singles by Joel Walton and Easton Rhodes moved Cory Erbskorn over to third after reaching on an error. The unearned run crossed the plate with a groundball double play on the infield. The Thunder took advantage of another error in the fifth for the game's tying run. Dalton Nikirk doubled down the left field line to put himself in scoring position and Stefanelli reached first on an error to keep the inning alive and plate a run.
A walk and RBI double put Ohio Northern back in front in the top of the sixth inning. Singles by Rhodes and Avery Fulford in the bottom half of the frame went by the wayside, as well as a hit by Martin in the seventh. With one on and one out in the top of the eighth, freshman southpaw Jack Villarreal got the final two outs of the inning to keep the gap at one, 4-3.
Pinch hitter Jack Kletzly, who played the hero against Wright State-Lake last weekend, was called upon once again with the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth, but was unable to provide the same magic as the game before. Cole Decker was tasked with pitching the ninth inning and retired one of three batters faced. Noah Brettin entered the game and induced what looked to be an inning-ending double play, but a throwing error plated a fifth run for the Polar Bears.
Pinch hitter Brody Bond kept hopes high in the Thunder dugout with a single passed the diving third baseman and pinch runner Cole Schmidthuber advanced to second base thanks to a passed ball. The offense was unable to get the tying run on base and fell 5-3 after nine.
Nikirk and Rhodes had multi-hit games, going 2-for-4 and 2-for-3. Martin also reached base twice via a walk and single. Keele (0-2) pitched a game-high 5.1 innings and fanned four of the five batters in the ballgame for Trine. Defensviely, Weis was able to catch a pair of runners stealing with no stolen bases allowed or passed balls.
Conference play begins on Saturday, April 1 when the team travels to Olivet College to face the Comets. The doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.