PAINESVILLE, OHIO
– Through 13 innings Saturday (April 24), it looked like
a long night for the Lake Erie College baseball team at Slippery
Rock. But the Storm rallied for seven runs in the seventh
inning of game two – getting just two hits in the process
– for an improbable 10-9 come-from-behind victory at Jack
Critchfield Park to earn a split in the series' first two
games.
The win was the team's 18th of
the season, breaking the school record for wins set by the 2008
team.
After losing game one, 12-2, the
Storm (18-25) looked like it was headed towards another sound
defeat. Lake Erie trailed 8-1 heading into the sixth inning
before scoring two unearned runs, aided by a hit batsman and a
dropped fly ball, on a single by sophomore Mike Morgan
(Indian Lakes, Ohio/Russells Point) and a bases-loaded
walk by freshman Justin Rebhun (Rensselaer,
N.Y./Columbia)
The Rock (24-21) got a run back
in the bottom of the frame to take a 9-3 lead into the
seventh.
That's when things got
crazy. Sophomore Ryan Rua (Amherst,
Ohio/Amherst) singled to start the inning off reliever
Justin Thomas and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a
walk, junior Brandon James (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor)
singled home Rua. Freshman Pat Kilway (Tallmadge,
Ohio/Tallmdge) was hit by a pitch to load the bases and
another wild pitch allowed junior Nick Lovick (Mentor,
Ohio/Mentor) to score, making it 9-5 with nobody
out.
Thomas got the next two
hitters and looked on the verge of escaping the jam. Pinch hitter
Matt Vanni (Willowick, Ohio/Benedictine) hit a
grounder to third that was misplayed by Jamison Walk and allowed
two more runs to score.
Following a walk, Colin McCoy
(1-1) entered the game for Slippery Rock and promptly uncorked a
wild pitch and then walked a batter, loading the bases for Rua. He
sent a ball to center field, but the potential game-ended was
dropped by Matt Howard, allowing all three runners to score and
giving the Storm a 10-9 lead.
Lake Erie's seven-run
seventh featured a hit batsman, two singles, two errors, three
walks and three wild pitches.
Sophomore J.D. Ingalls
(Madison, Ohio/Madison) pitched a perfect ninth, including
a pair of strikeouts, to save it for classmate Matt Lott
(Newark, Ohio/Newark Catholic). Lott (1-0) allowed a
run on two hits in two innings of relief, striking out four.
Morgan had two hits and drove in
two runs to lead the Lake Erie attack, while James and sophomore
Matt Toth (Lorain, Ohio/Admiral King) also had two
hits.
Before making that error in the
ninth, Howard had a solid game at the plate, driving in three runs
with three hits. Carter Haponski also had three hits.
In the opener, Slippery Rock
jumped out to a 12-0 lead after four innings behind three RBI each
from Mitchell Monas and Matt Kosik and cruised to the lopsided
win. The only offense mounted by Lake Erie came in the sixth
when sophomore Jae Leeworthy (Newton Falls, Ohio/Newton
Falls) and freshman Zach Mosbarger (Bellefontaine,
Ohio/Bellefontaine) drove in runs.
Four players had multiple hits
for the Rock, which had 14 total, to back starter George
Hebert's (6-1) four scoreless innings on the mound.
The two teams will play a single
nine-innng game on Sunday, April 25, starting at noon.
-LEC-
