Fort Wayne, Ind. — The Aquinas baseball team split an afternoon doubleheader at Indiana Tech on Friday (Apr. 7) with the Warriors taking Game 1, 4-3, and the Saints bouncing back with a lopsided 8-1 victory in Game 2.
The two mid-table conference foes prevented each other from making a leap in the WHAC standings. Aquinas moved to 14-15 overall (4-6 WHAC), while Indiana Tech bolsters a 18-9 overall record, but remains .500 in conference at 6-6 in the WHAC.
Game 1: Indiana Tech 4, Aquinas 3 (7 Innings)
Warriors starting pitcher Ryan Troxel held the Saints scoreless for five innings while ITU's offense built up a 3-0 lead by the end of the second inning. AQ finally broke Troxel's shutout bid in the sixth when second baseball
Dane Smitz smacked his first home run of the season (third of his career).
The solo blast was short-lived as the Warriors got the run back in the bottom half on an RBI double by Carson McNulty. The Saints went to the seventh inning down three, 4-1, with three outs left.
Aquinas didn't go down without a fight — loading the bases with two outs.
Mark Binkowski then stepped in and singled to center field off relief pitcher Brice Stultz, who was tasked with getting the final out. Binkowski's clutch two-out single brought in two runs and placed the tying runner on second base.
An ensuing strikeout, however, ended the Saints' quest to complete the comeback. Stultz came through to help Troxel pick up another win on the mound, moving to 7-1 overall on the season.
AQ outhit the Warriors, 8-6, with seven different players recording a base knock.
Dawson Shearer was the lone Saint to double up, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Smitz's home run was AQ's only extra base hit, while Indiana Tech produced five doubles with its six hits.
The offensive spark the Saints ignited in the seventh inning carried over into the second game.
Game 2: Aquinas 8, Indiana Tech 1
AQ wore the Warriors down in Game 2 by grinding out runs, including a five-run third inning.
The Saints first two runs were scored on RBI ground outs by Shearer and
Luke Lacross. Shearer then walked with bases loaded. Three run-scoring singles followed by Smitz, Binkowski and
Braden Brown.
When the dust settled, Aquinas was up 7-0 after four innings. That was more than comfortable cushion for AQ starting pitcher
Mason Hill, who lasted six inning and only gave up one hit along with one run off an RBI sacrifice fly.
A Warriors' fielding error in the ninth inning allowed Aquinas to push the final score out to 8-1.
Saints relief pitchers
Garrett Cheslek and
Evan Douglass combined to throw three scoreless innings. Cheslek went two innings and allowed two hits. Douglass pitched a clean ninth minus an AQ fielding error.
Like the first game, the Saints' offense was a total team affair. Seven different players collected nine hits and five different players chipped in with RBIs.
Chase Ingersoll and
Nathan Wilcox each had two hits, while Shearer and Smitz each had multiple RBIs.
The Warriors got a little lucky that AQ only scored eight runs, as the Saints left 13 runners on base in the contest. Aquinas struck out to end four of the nine innings and left runners on base in eight of the frames.
Next up, the Saints will host Rochester (3-26, 1-15 WHAC) tomorrow (Apr. 8) in a home doubleheader at the Meijer Sports Complex in Rockford, Mich. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
