COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Lake Erie baseball team opened G-MAC play in the state capital against Ohio Dominican. The Storm would come back late and take game one 4-3.
Dominic Poltrone would silence the Panthers offense and throw a complete game in an 8-1 game two victory. Ohio Dominican would go ahead early and take game three 7-1. In the deciding game of the series, the Panthers would power their way back for a 7-6 victory to secure a series split.
Team Records
Lake Erie: 3-15 (2-2)
Ohio Dominican: 6-9 (2-2)
Game Recaps
Game 1:
Lake Erie - 4
Ohio Dominican- 3
The Panthers would kick off the series scoring a run in each of the first two innings, going ahead 2-0. The Storm would get on the board in the fifth with an RBI walk from
Micah Geise, bringing the score to 2-1. Ohio Dominican would answer back in the bottom half with one run, growing the lead to 3-1. Lake Erie would even the score at three in the eighth with an RBI double from
Matt Fountain. The Storm would go ahead for the first time the next inning with an RBI double from
Ty Sowers, moving ahead 4-3. The Panthers would strand a runner in the bottom half as Lake Erie would hold on 4-3 to open G-MAC action.
W: Hunter Lefkus (2-0) - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, K
L: Andrew Holcomb (0-1) - 1.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 0 BB, K
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 8, Panthers- 10
Walks:
Storm- 4, Panthers- 5
Strikeouts:
Storm- 11, Panthers- 7
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 2
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 5, Panthers- 4
Strikeouts:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 11
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 1, Panthers- 4
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 1
Game 1 Top Storm Performers:
R-Soph. Matt Fountain: 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI, R
Jr. Micah Geise: 0-3, RBI, 2 BB, K
Sr. Ty Sowers: 1-5, 2B, RBI, 3 K
Game 2:
Lake Erie - 8
Ohio Dominican- 1
After a quiet first three innings, the Storm would erupt for six runs in the fourth for a 6-0 lead with RBI singles from
Brendan Hazuda,
Matt Fountain, and
Koden Bechtel, and
Ty Sowers scoring on a fielding error. The Panthers would answer in the bottom half for one, cutting the deficit to 6-1. Lake Erie would put up two more runs in the fifth and seventh with Hazuda scoring each time on a throwing and fielding error, bringing the score to 8-1.
Dominic Poltrone would silence the Ohio Dominican offense in an 8-1 complete game victory in game two.
W: Dominic Poltrone (1-3) - 7.0 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 8 K
L: Steven Chapman (1-3) - 3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R (4 ER), 0 BB, 7 K
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 5, Panthers- 4
Walks:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 2
Strikeouts:
Storm- 11, Panthers- 8
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 1, Panthers- 0
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 2, Panthers- 0
Strikeouts:
Storm- 8, Panthers- 11
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 1
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 1, Panthers- 4
Game 2 Top Storm Performers:
Jr. Brendan Hazuda: 3-4, 2 2B, RBI, 3 R
Fr. Koden Bechtel: 1-3, 2 RBI
R-Soph. Matt Fountain: 1-3, 2 RBI, R, SB, HBP, K
Game 3:
Ohio Dominican- 7
Lake Erie- 1
The Panthers would jump out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, putting up four hits and taking advantage of three errors. Ohio Dominican would add two more in the third, growing the lead to 6-0. The Storm would respond in the fourth with one run on an RBI single from
Ryne Buckley, bringing the score to 6-1. The Panthers would add one more insurance run in the fifth to put the score at 7-1. Lake Erie would threaten in the seventh, loading the bases, but all three runners would be left stranded and Ohio Dominican would take game three 7-1.
W: Landon Ringhiser (2-1) – 7.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 2 K
L: Peyton Beck (0-1) – 1.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, K
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 9, Panthers- 6
Walks:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 3
Strikeouts:
Storm- 2, Panthers- 4
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 3
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 3
Strikeouts:
Storm- 4, Panthers- 2
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 3
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 1
Game 3 Top Storm Performers:
R-Jr. Ryne Buckley: 1-3, RBI
Fr. Koden Bechtel: 1-3
Sr. Ty Sowers: 1-2, BB, HBP
Game 4:
Ohio Dominican- 7
Lake Erie- 6
The Storm would come out the gates in the deciding game, putting up three runs in the top of the first with an RBI double from
Travis Yankovich, and Yankovich and
Matt Fountain scoring on a fielding error. The Panthers would respond in the bottom half with a leadoff solo shot, cutting their deficit to 3-1. Ohio Dominican would then tie the game at three in the third. Lake Erie would retake the lead in the fifth 6-3 with an RBI sacrifice fly from Yankovich and an RBI double from
Brady Carman. The Panthers would respond in the bottom half for another solo shot. Ohio Dominican would take a 7-6 lead in the seventh on a three-run home run. The Storm would have runners on in the eighth and ninth, but no runs would cross home and the Panthers would secure a 7-6 lead and series split.
W: Jeremy Ramirez (1-0) – 2.1 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
L: Hunter Bays (0-2) – 2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
S: Andrew Holcomb (1) – 1.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Key Team Stats:
Batting-
Runners Left on Base:
Storm- 12, Panthers- 10
Walks:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 7
Strikeouts:
Storm- 17, Panthers- 14
Stolen Bases:
Storm- 3, Panthers- 0
Pitching-
Walks:
Storm- 7, Panthers- 7
Strikeouts:
Storm- 14, Panthers- 17
Hit by Pitches:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 3
Fielding-
Errors:
Storm- 0, Panthers- 2
Game 4 Top Storm Performers:
R-Soph. Matt Fountain: 2-4, 3B, BB, 2 R, 2 K
R-Soph. Seth Yacobucci: 2-4, SB, K
Jr. Travis Yankovich: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, SB, BB, R, K
The Matchup
With the series split, Lake Erie is now 21-29 all-time against Ohio Dominican.
Up Next
Lake Erie will play their home opening series against Cedarville beginning on Friday, March 20th.
Cedarville is currently 8-12 overall and 2-2 in the G-MAC on the season. Recently, the Yellow Jackets opened G-MAC play with a series split at Ashland. In the 2026 G-MAC preseason poll, Cedarville was voted to finish 4th in the south division.
Cedarville currently is 10th in the G-MAC in batting average (.256), 2nd in ERA (5.74), and 5th in fielding percentage (.963 with 27 errors).
