The baseball team relied on home run hitting in all four games to take three wins and sole possession of the west division of the North Coast Athletic Conference from 20th ranked Denison University last weekend.
In game one, junior Collin Einertson put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a sacrifice fly that scored senior Reid Pittard. They got more scoring from another sacrifice fly from senior Tate Stewart that scored senior Mike Hammel.
Denison broke into the Tigers’ lead with a score in the sixth inning, but senior Zach Wade responded with a solo home run in the seventh. Denison was able to come back with a run in the eighth and ninth to tie the game at 3-3.
With a runner in scoring position, senior Jack Thompson came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth. He rose to the occasion by ripping a walk-off single to right field that scored first-year C.J. Yoannou to give them a 4-3 victory.
The walk-off not only gave them a win to start the series, but senior Nick Horvath says it gave them even more momentum since it was a walk-off.
“Any win in the first game gives you momentum and energy going forward,” Horvath said. “But a walk off win gives you a little bit extra.”
Behind five home runs, DePauw ran away with game two by a score of 13-6.
Denison started out the scoring with four unearned runs in the top of the first. Thompson was able to cut into the lead in the bottom half of the inning as he kept his momentum rolling from game one with a two-run home run.
In the bottom of the second inning, Thompson homered again to drive in three runs and give the Tigers a 5-4 lead. Denison did not gain the lead again for the rest of the game. Yoannou, senior Joey Plesac and senior Ryan Grippo each added home runs to the total.
The men wasted no time in game three as they scored three runs in the first two innings off of Hammel and Pittard singles.
Denison responded with two runs in the top of the third to cut the lead to 3-2, but Wade drove in another run in the bottom half of the inning to extend the lead once again. Hammel, Thompson and senior Max Cohen all hit home runs to extend the lead throughout the game. Cohen’s was the first of his career.
“It was pretty crazy,” Cohen said. “I didn't think it was going to go right when I hit it, but once it went over the fence I just tried to embrace the moment running around the bases.”
DePauw kept their strong hitting rolling in game four, but it was not enough to outscore Denison’s 14 runs as they lost 14-12.
Denison struck first with four-run second and third innings to give them an early 8-0 lead.
With the game seemingly out of reach, the Tigers made a comeback by putting up five runs in the bottom half of the third inning off of four hits by first-year Brayden White, Pittard, Thompson and Einertson.
The scoring continued as Denison put up another four runs in the fourth inning to give them a 12-5 lead. Yet again, DePauw responded with a four-run fifth inning to cut the lead to 12-9.
Stewart scored Thompson with a single, sophomore Elliot Shebek scored Hammel with a walk and Grippo scored two with a single.
With a man on second and a chance to cut the lead to one, Shebek roped a home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 13-12. However, the men were unable to score again and Big Red came out with the final victory.
Denison was viewed across the conference as one of the best, if not the best, team in the conference. Horvath says this win shows that DePauw deserves to be in that discussion.
“We still have a lot of baseball to play before the end of the year,” Horvath said. “But beating a solid, ranked team in Denison gave us a great opportunity to show everyone what we are truly capable of.”
The team improves their record to 23-6 overall and 6-2 in the NCAC. They return to action on Friday as they travel to Ohio Wesleyan University for a four-game series.