Westfield, Ind. – Aquinas was back on the diamond yesterday (Feb. 4) to play two more games during opening weekend. Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus was in the opposing dugout once more.
AQ took the first game to put itself at 3-0 on the season, but IUPUC responded in the fourth game to avoid the weekend sweep.
The Saints improved to 3-1 for an impressive start to the 2024 season.
Game 1: Aquinas 7, IUPUC 1
Columbus put a run up on the scoreboard first after a failed pickoff attempt allowed the Crimson Pride to bring a runner across home plate. That would be the one and only run that IUPUC would score through nine innings of play.
Aquinas got the bats going in the bottom of the third frame to take the lead.
Ramsey Bousseau rocketed a triple to right center with one out to start the scoring party.
Dawson Shearer hit him home and then, two batters later,
Grant Martin singled down the left-field line to give AQ a 2-1 advantage.
The scoring didn't stop there.
Chase Ingersoll was intentionally walked and then
JD Gillies saw four balls to walk in another run. With the bases still loaded,
Nathan Wilcox's hot start to the season continued with a single to score Aquinas' fourth run of the inning.
AQ added on another run in the fourth after a Bousseau double and a bunt single from Shearer put runners on the corners. Martin hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring Bousseau home for his second RBI of the game.
The Saints would add two more runs prior to the end of the game. In the fifth,
Ryan Gillings hit an RBI single to increase AQ's lead to five. Two innings later, it was Gillings again with an RBI triple to give the Saints their seventh run of the game.
Zach Marshall started the game for the Saints, giving up the lone run and striking out three over two innings of play.
Blake Waibel,
Hunter Doyle,
Zachary Dingwell, and
Bryce Marvel all saw time on the hill this game. None of them conceded a run and Waibel was credited with the win and had a game-high of four strikeouts.
Game 2: IUPUC 9, Aquinas 5
The final contest of the four-game weekend got off to a wild start. The Crimson Pride scored a run to start the first inning and AQ responded after a two-RBI single from Martin and an RBI double from Wilcox gave the Saints three runs.
Columbus' offense woke up in the top of the second. IUPUC's five-hit inning that included a bases-clearing double put the "visiting team" ahead 5-3.
Aquinas went on to tie the game at five with a Bousseau RBI single and a fielding error from IUPUC several batters later allowing Bousseau to score.
After ten runs being scored in the first two innings, the game quieted down until the top of the fourth innings. The Crimson pride loaded the bases with a series of walks and then hit a three-RBI triple to take the lead back.
Both defenses settled in after the fourth inning. IUPUC added on an insurance run in the top of the sixth, but a couple of quick innings ended the contest 9-5 to give Columbus its lone win of the weekend.
By the Numbers
Bousseau impressed in his first two collegiate starts for Aquinas. He went 4-7 at the plate with a double and a triple while stealing two bases.
Martin tallied three hits over the two games, batting in three runners to give himself four RBI on the weekend.
Landon Mueller and
Jayden Timmer were demons on the base paths this weekend. Mueller stole five bases on six attempts and Timmer was a perfect 4-4.
As a team, Aquinas stole 8 bases in the second game on Sunday. This number ties the fourth-most stolen bases in a game in program history, falling just two shy of the record.
Up Next
Aquinas has a few weeks off until facing off with Oakland City for a four-game road weekend (Feb. 24-25).
