(LOUISVILLE, Ohio) — On Saturday, the Lake Erie baseball team faced off with Malone in their second doubleheader in as many days. In the first game, the Pioneers won on a heartbreaking walk-off home run. But in the second game, the Storm came back with a vengeance, topping Malone 16-1. Lake Erie moves to 5-24 on the season, while Malone goes to 15-17 for the season.

Game 1

In the first game, the biggest story was definitely the two-run, walk-off home run to left-center in the bottom of the seventh inning by left fielder Joe Crank. But earlier, the game had been dominated by Lake Erie, most prominently thanks to a fifth inning three-run home run off the bat of second baseman Drew Donaldson. That made the score 4-0, after the Storm had taken a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jesse Barrios. And Lake Erie starting pitcher Ryan Middendorf pitched well through five innings, not allowing a single run over that time.

But that would change in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Middendorf, who ended up pitching the entire game for the Storm, allowed three runs across in the inning, including a solo home run to right fielder Joe Watts. That narrowed the Lake Erie lead to one, but that lead wouldn't last much longer. After not getting any insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, the Storm gave up the walk-off shot in the bottom of the inning, and that ended things for Game 1.

Game 2

But instead of getting down on themselves, the Storm took the bitter taste left in their mouths after Game 1 and used it to their advantage in the second affair. This one was all Storm, and it wasn't even close. Malone's lone run in the game didn't come until the last inning, meaning that Lake Erie went on a 16-0 run from the beginning of the game. Sparing readers the labor of having to read every single good hit, run or RBI that the Storm had in the game, let's just look at the highlights:

Six Storm players had multi-hit performances in this one: Nate Birtley, Luis Vergara-Schoonewolff, Eric Doyle, Drew Donaldson, Jacob Lozinski, and Jesse Barrios (the first three had three hits apiece). Vergara-Schoonewolff, Donaldson and Lozinski all hit home runs, with Vergara-Schoonewolff's coming in the form of a grand slam. Six players also had multiple RBI in the game, and they were the exact same players who had multiple hits in the game.

On the bump, Chris Mutter, Chase Tompkins and Ryan Lally combined to pitch a very solid game for the Storm, giving up only one run, one walk, and three hits between the three of them over seven innings. Tompkins wound up with the win, as Lake Erie didn't even begin their scoring rampage until the second inning.

As the season gets closer to its conclusion, Lake Erie now looks ahead to its last away series, on the road at Ohio Dominican. That series is set to begin on Friday.