WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – The Lake Erie baseball team played their first home G-MAC series of the series against the Ohio Dominican Panthers. The Storm would hold on for a 4-3 game one victory and the Panthers would take a low-scoring second game 3-1. Lake Erie would take games three and four by scores of 9-3 and 7-3 to take their second straight series.
Team Records
Lake Erie: 16-11 (8-4)
Ohio Dominican: 9-19 (3-9)
Game Recaps
Game 1:
Lake Erie- 4
Ohio Dominican- 3
Lake Erie would jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI sacrifice fly from
Graham Solak. Ohio Dominican would score their first run in the fifth tying the game at 1-1. The Storm would strike back in the bottom half, putting up three runs for a 4-1 lead with RBI singles
Micah Geise and Solak and an RBI sacrifice fly from
Jaxson Christ. The Panthers would add two runs in the seventh and eighth, cutting the lead 4-3, taking advantage of two Storm errors.
Brandon Metivier would come in to close out the game one 4-3 victory for Lake Erie.
W: Dominic Poltrone (3-2) - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BBs, 3 Ks
L: Landon Ringhiser (2-4) - 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), 4 BBs, 3 Ks
S: Brandon Metivier (4) – 1.1 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 BBs, K
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 8
Walks:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 5
Strikeouts:
Storm- 9, Panthers- 7
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 4, Panthers- 1
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 5, Panthers- 7
Strikeouts:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 9
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 2
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 2, Panthers- 2
Game 1 Top Storm Performers:
Soph. Micah Geise: 2-3, RBI, R, BB, SB, K
Sr. Graham Solak: 1-3, 2 RBI, K
Soph. Travis Yankovich: 1-3, 2 R, 2 BBs, K
Game 2:
Ohio Dominican- 3
Lake Erie- 1
Game two started out scoreless for the first three innings, with Lake Erie threatening in the second and third, but were not able to put any runs on the board. Ohio Dominican would take their first lead of the day, putting up two in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. The Panthers would add one more in the fifth, taking advantage of a throwing error for a 3-0 lead. The Storm would put their first and only run on the board in the fifth with
Zimba Cadiz scoring on a failed pickoff attempt. Ohio Dominican would hold Lake Erie silent for the last two frames to secure the game two victory 3-1.
W: Jared Hoersten (1-0) – 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 6 Ks
L: Gregory Kennedy (2-1) – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), BB, 8 Ks
S: Andrew Mouch (1) – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 5, Panthers- 6
Walks:
Storm- 2, Panthers- 3
Strikeouts:
Storm- 8, Panthers- 13
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 2
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 2
Strikeouts:
Storm- 13, Panthers- 8
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 2
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 1, Panthers- 1
Game 2 Top Storm Performers:
Sr. Garrett Esposito: 1-3, 2B, SB
Soph. Floyd Mckenna: 2.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 2 BBs, 5 Ks
R-Sr. Sebastian Silva: 1-2, BB, K
Game 3:
Lake Erie- 9
Ohio Dominican- 3
Ohio Dominican threated in the first, loading the bases with two outs, but the runners would be stranded. Lake Erie would respond in the bottom half by putting a five spot up for a 5-0 lead with an RBI walk from reigning G-MAC player of the week
Garrett Esposito, along with a grand slam from
Mitchel Szymczak, his fifth home run of the season. The Panthers would get on the board in the fifth plating one run. The Storm answered back in the bottom half with two runs for a 7-1 lead with RBI singles from Szymczak and
Israel Espinosa. Lake Erie would add two more in the sixth, growing their lead to 9-1 with
Alex Jones scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI sacrifice fly from
Jaxson Christ. Ohio Dominican would add two more in the seventh, but the lead was too much as the Storm would take game three 9-3.
W: Alex Caudill (3-1) – 5.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BBs, 6 Ks
L: Steven Chapman (1-2) – 6.0 IP, 10 H, 9 R (8 ER), 2 BBs, 10 Ks
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 4, Panthers- 5
Walks:
Storm- 2, Panthers- 4
Strikeouts:
Storm- 10, Panthers- 7
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 3
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 4, Panthers- 2
Strikeouts:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 10
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 2, Panthers- 1
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 3
Game 3 Top Storm Performers:
R-Soph. Mitchel Szymczak: 2-3, HR (5), 5 RBI, R
Sr. Garrett Esposito: 1-1, RBI, 2 R, BB, HBP
Soph. Jaxson Christ: 1-3, RBI, 2 R, SF
Game 4:
Lake Erie- 13
Walsh- 7
Lake Erie threatened in the first, getting runners on second and third with no outs, but were both stranded. The Storm would put a run up in the second for a 1-0 lead with a
Travis Yankovich RBI single. Ohio Dominican would respond in the third, tying the game at 1-1. The Panthers would take their first lead of the day in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. Ohio Dominican would add another run in the fifth for a 3-1 lead. Lake Erie would answer back with three runs in the bottom half for a 4-3 lead with an RBI single from
Sebastian Silva and an RBI triple from
Alex Jones. The Storm would add three insurance runs in the eighth with a three-run home run from
Graham Solak, his fifth of the season. Ohio Dominican would load the bases in the ninth, but would be stranded as Lake Erie would take game four 7-3 to take the series.
W: Robert Helt (4-2) – 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BBs, 6 Ks
L: Jeremy Ramirez (1-3) – 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BBs, 3 Ks
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 13, Panthers- 10
Walks:
Storm- 6, Panthers- 8
Strikeouts:
Storm- 8, Panthers- 10
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 6, Panthers- 2
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 6, Panthers- 8
Strikeouts:
Storm- 10, Panthers- 8
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 1, Panthers- 2
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 1
Game 4 Top Storm Performers:
Sr. Alex Jones: 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI
Sr. Graham Solak: 1-4, HR (5), 3 RBI, R, BB, 3 Ks
Soph. Travis Yankovich: 3-5, RBI, K, 3 SBs
Series Evaluation
High-Quality Starts: Despite the game two loss, the Lake Erie starting pitchers put together strong performances this weekend, each going at least five innings, with three runs or less.
Bats Get Hot at Right Time: The Storm offense has shown signs of inconsistency throughout the season but came together at the right time to secure the series victory. Coming off game two hitting .130, they hit above .300 in games three and four, showcasing their grit.
Momentum Heading into G-MAC North Division Play: Lake Erie is now 8-4 in the G-MAC, securing two straight series victory from the south side of the G-MAC. Lake Erie is fourth in the north division, behind two regionally ranked teams in Northwood and Ashland. Lake Erie is also ranked 10th in the Midwest region, according to the NCBWA poll released on March 26th.
Series History
Lake Erie's series victory brings their all-time record to 19-27 against Ohio Dominican. This is Lake Erie first series victory against Ohio Dominican since 2016.
Up Next
Lake Erie will play a non-conference home game against Malone University on Tuesday, April 1st at 3 p.m.
