Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Aquinas baseball team closed out the 2023 regular season on Sunday (Apr. 30) with a split against the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers by scores or 5-3 (7 Innings) and 7-2 at Cornerstone's De Witt Field in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Saints (29-21, 19-11 WHAC) concluded the weekend taking three out of four games against UNOH (26-19, 22-10 WHAC) to claim their spot as the fourth-best team in the conference. The 29 wins is the most AQ has achieved in a single season since 2006 when the Saints went 30-19.
Game 1: Aquinas 5, UNOH 3 (7 Innings)
The Saints picked up their third straight win over the Racers by building up an early cushion in the opening frame. AQ scored four runs in the first inning off a pair of two-run singles back up the middle by
Nathan Wilcox and
Braden Brown.
UNOH chipped away with one run in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The first two runs came courtesy of RBI singles, while the last one was more eye-catching as Tyler Grigalis hit a solo home run to right field.
Brown came through with another RBI single in the sixth, despite being thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, to provided the Saints with a welcomed insurance run.
Leading 5-3, closer
Grant Martin pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to earn his fourth save of the season. He also picked up a save on Saturday.
AQ starter
Kaleb Mitchelson went three innings, allowing one run on five hits. Reliever
Evan Douglass was credited with the win in relief to improve to 4-0 on the season. He also pitched three innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
UNOH outhit Aquinas 9-7 but left two more runners on base (6-4).
Three Saints collect two hits: Wilcox, Brown and
Luke Lacross. Brown also had three RBIs and Wilcox had the other two.
Game 2: UNOH 7, Aquinas 2
After being stifled all weekend, the Racers finally showcased why they finished the regular season as the third-best team in the conference. UNOH scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back to avoid a four-game sweep.
Erick Castro, Seth Freeman and Nolan Hull each provided RBI hits in the opening frame. Freeman worked the hardest with a triple to the gap in left center.
AQ's first hit of the game was a solo blast by Martin to right field in the bottom of the second inning. His ninth home run of the season ties
Jake Paganelli for the most on the team this year.
Three scoreless innings followed before Tim Hanible smacked a two-run home run to left field to give the Racers a 5-1 lead. The Saints got one run back in the seventh on a wild pitch that allowed
Mark Binkowski to score. But, later ended the inning with the bases loaded.
UNOH tacked on two more runs in the ninth before turning to their sixth pitcher of the game, Eliott Traver, to pick up the final three outs.
Aquinas also used six different pitchers, going from starter
Ethan Pequette through
Sean Page,
Nathan Myers,
Nathan Esch,
Tristan Hysell and
Kasy Shadduck. The Racers pounded out 15 hits in the process to score their seven runs.
The Saints were limited to six hits with only Paganelli connecting twice. Besides Martin home run,
Dane Smitz had the only other extra base hit with a triple down the right field line in the ninth inning.
With three wins this weekend, Aquinas clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming WHAC Tournament. The Saints are making their first appearance at the conference tournament since 2015.
The Top 6 teams in the WHAC make the tournament with the Top 2 seeds hosting pool play games. No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 will be at one location, while No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 will be at another. Both sites will feature a round-robin, double-elimination style bracket on May 4-5 with the winners advancing to a best-of-three Championship Series on May 8-9.
As things stand right now (barring any standing changes/corrections), AQ's pool will feature No. 2 Madonna (30-15, 24-6 WHAC) and No. 3 UNOH. The Saints will open the WHAC Tournament with a fifth straight game against the Racers on May 4 in Livonia, Michigan.
