The baseball team spent their spring break in Florida playing seven games in six days against competition from around the country. The team closed the week with a sweep over University of Maine at Farmington to give them a 6-1 record over the week.
It did not take long for the Tigers to get the bats going as senior Mike Hammel hit an RBI double in the first, and senior Zach Wade nailed a two-run home run in the second to give the team a 3-0 lead.
The Beavers responded in the top of the fourth with four hits to give them three runs and a 3-3 tie. However, DePauw responded quickly when Wade gave the team the lead with a double that scored senior Ryan Grippo. The team scored another insurance run in the fifth and took home the 5-3 victory. First-year Nick Casey earned the win, while senior Nick Horvath recorded his fifth save of the year.
Casey says the team didn’t let UM Farmington’s response effect how they played.
“They did a good job of responding to our early lead with a big fourth inning,” Casey said. “But I was able to come in and stop the bleeding, and the offensive took care of the rest.”
The second game of the doubleheader was not as exciting as the first as the team dominated on their way to a 7-0 win.
Junior Tyler Holt threw five complete innings, while only allowing two hits and no runs. His teammates immediately gave him a cushion to work with as they scored five of their seven runs in the top of the first inning. Grippo, senior Reid Pittard and sophomore Noah Salasky all contributed with multi-hit games.
The Tigers experienced their first deficit of the series in game three, but rallied behind their offensive to close out the sweep with an 8-3 lead.
Wade gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI hit, but the Beavers responded in the third with three runs off of four hits to put the Tigers behind by two runs.
The top of the fourth marked the beginning of the team’s best offensive performance of the season. Grippo, Salasky, senior Jack Thompson, sophomore Noah Lavender, and junior Colin Einertson all recorded hits and the team retook the lead at 5-3. The team ended the game with a combined 18 hits.
The team scored a run in the fifth, seventh and eighth inning. A combination of Casey, senior Riley Futterknecht and junior Danny Farrar shutout UM Farmington in the final six innings. Junior Jack Norton picked up the win.
Junior Jonathan Azar was not only encouraged with how the team played over the trip, but was happy with how well the team bonded while they were off the field over the trip.
“There are a lot of juniors and seniors on the team, so we have been together for a while,” Azar said. “But for a team to be successful, you have to be a team. And the experiences we had during break really solidified that for me.”
The team is back in action on Saturday for a four-game series against Wittenberg University in their North Coast Athletic Conference opener. First pitch is set at noon.