KENT, Ohio—The Lake Erie College baseball team faced Malone University in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) doubleheader Saturday (March 26) played at Kent State University.

The Storm fell 12-4 in game one and 16-10 in game two.

GAME ONE

After a scoreless first inning, the Pioneers offense produced nine runs in the second and third inning.

The Storm got on the board in the top of the fourth.  Austin Bovenzi (Fairport, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) was walked to lead off the inning.  He advanced to third on a double by Lucas Raley (Hinckley, Ohio/Medina Highland).  Bovenzi came across the plate on a wild pitch for the Storm's first run.  A Zak DeCamp (Gahanna, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales) groundout brought Raley home for the second run. 

After the Pioneers scored one in the top of the fourth, the Storm offense produced once again in the top of the fifth.  With Cale Giddings (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central/Akron) on first after a walk, Louie Peterlin (Mentor, Ohio/Lake Catholic) hit a two-run homerun.  However, the Pioneers added two runs in the sixth to secure the win.

Raley ended the game with two hits in three at-bats with one run.  Peterlin had one run and two RBI.  DeCamp also had a RBI. 

GAME TWO

The Storm got to work right away.  Rees Rua (Amherst, Ohio/Amherst Steele) reached first via error to lead off the game.  After Raley was walked, DeCamp singled to right field to bring Rua home.  Nigel Williams (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle) hit a one-out sacrifice fly to bring Raley home.  DeCamp scored on a wild pitch, putting the Storm up 3-0. 

The Pioneers scored one in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to two.

In the top of the third, the Storm plated a pair of runs.  Raley led off the inning with an infield single and reached second on a balk.  DeCamp singled to the shortstop and reached second on a throwing error which scored Raley.  Williams moved DeCamp to third on a groundout.  He then came across the plate on a balk. 

In the bottom of the frame, the Pioneers plated four to tie the game at five. They extended the lead to 8-5 with three runs in the fourth.

The Storm got back on the board in the top of the fifth.  Rua earned a walk to lead off the inning.  He moved to second on a single by Raley and to third on a wild pitch.  Rutger Luebke (Medina, Ohio/Medina) brought Rua home on a fielder's choice.  However, the Pioneers matched the Storm's run in the bottom of the frame to maintain their lead.  They scored three more to take a 12-7 lead into the eighth.

Luebke led off the eighth with an infield single.  After advancing to second on a Peterlin single, he crossed the plate on a Giddings single.  But once again, the Pioneers offense answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring four.

The Storm fought back in the ninth.  Tyler Hissom reached first on a dropped third strike.  Ryan Grieco (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) hit a pinch hit single at the next at-bat.  After Ryan Lally (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) was walked, Jake Csizmadia (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria) came into pinch hit.  He grounded into a fielder's choice which scored Hissom.  Williams followed up with a double to left field, scoring Csizmadia and Lally. However, it was not enough to overcome the lead. 

Raley, DeCamp and Peterlin had two hits apiece.  Williams had three RBI to lead the Storm.  Rua, Raley and DeCamp had a pair of runs each. 

The Storm is back in action March 29 at Kent State University.

-LEC-