FINDLAY, OHIO – After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, things went downhill quick for the Lake Erie College baseball team as the Storm was overwhelmed by the University of Findlay, 17-4, on Saturday (April 16) in the first game of a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) weekend series.  The second game was canceled due to weather.

The Storm (14-16, 7-10 GLIAC) scored three unearned runs thanks to three Findlay errors in the first frame and had hopes of snapping its three-game losing streak.  But the Oilers (8-20-1, 5-12 GLIAC) scored four times in the bottom of the first, four more in the second and then chased Storm starter Logan Nordquist (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) with a three-run home run by Reid Rothenbuler.

A single by junior Kyle Kemp (Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe) scored a run in the sixth, but at that time it only made the score 14-4.  Nathaniel Fitch, who went 5-for-5 in the game, had a two-run triple in the bottom of the inning as part of a three-run sixth for the Oilers.

Kemp and classmate Matt Toth (Lorain, Ohio/Admiral King) each had two hits for Lake Erie.  Six Oilers had multiple hits in the contest and Findlay finished with 19.

Nordquist (3-2) suffered the loss, allowing 11 runs (9 earned) in just two innings.  Matt Weber earned the win for Findlay, going five innings of six-hit ball with just the three unearned runs allowed.

The teams will finish up their weekend slate with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 17, beginning at noon.

-LEC-