BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team swept an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader today against rival Heidelberg University on Fisher Field. The Yellow Jackets (11-15, 5-3 OAC) won the first game, 12-3, and the captured the nightcap, 8-3.
In the opener, BW gained a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning. BW increased its lead to 5-0 with a four-run third. The Student Princes (12-14, 4-4 OAC) cut the BW lead to 5-1 with a run in the top of the fifth, but the Yellow Jackets scored twice in the bottom half of that frame and three more times in the sixth, two on the team-leading fourth home run of the season by junior All-OAC second baseman Cole Nieto (Brunswick/ Cleveland St. Ignatius). HU made it a 10-3 game with two runs in the seventh. BW closed the scoring with a run in the eighth.
At the plate, BW outhit Heidelberg, 16-11. Nieto, senior All-OAC shortstop/ pitcher Mark Zimmerman (Akron/ Green) and sophomore 3B Spencer Badia (Bellaire) led the way. Nieto was 4-for-5. Zimmerman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Badia was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a double and triple. Senior All-OAC first baseman Hunter Handel (Akron/ Green) and junior catcher Alex Marcum (Granville) also hit well. Marcum was 2-for-5 with a run scored, double, two RBI and a stolen base. Handel was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, a double, two RBI, a walk, twice hit-by-pitch and had a stolen base.
On the mound, senior Academic All-OAC right-hander Alex Albright (North Royalton) started and pitched the first seven innings and gained the win to improve to 4-3 this season. He allowed 10 base hits and three runs (all earned), struck out a career-high 10 and walked two Student Prince batters. He was relieved by senior righty Connor Murphy (Westford, Mass./ Northeast) who pitched two scoreless innings and allowed just one base hit..
In the nightcap, Heidelberg gained a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Yellow Jackets came right back and scored twice in the bottom of the first and another run in the second to lead, 3-1. The Student Princes tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of tallies in the third, but again BW came right back to score twice in the home half of the frame and another in the fourth to build a 6-3 advantage. The Jackets added two more runs in the seventh made it 8-3.
On the mound, junior righty Logan Heffernan (Lebanon) started and pitched the first six and two-third innings and is now 1-0 this season. He allowed 10 base hits, three runs (two earned), struck out four and walked two. He was relieved by sophomore left-hander Evan Lovick (Mentor), this week's OAC Pitcher of the Week, in the seventh with two runners on base and the tying run at the plate. He threw one and two-third innings of shutout and one-hit relief with a strikeout. He lowered his earned run average (ERA) to an OAC-low of 0.72 overall. Murphy pitched a scoreless ninth and allowed a base hit.
At the plate, Handel, sophomore catcher Trent Kaltenbach (Plain City/ Jonathan Alder), sophomore center fielder Chase Knodle (Poland/ Seminary) and Zimmerman led the way. Handel was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Knodle was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Kaltenbach was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Zimmerman was 1-for-4 with a run scored and a two-run homer, his second this season.
BW is back in action on Thursday, April 14 when the Yellow Jackets host traditional rival and nationally-ranked The College of Wooster in a single, nine-inning game at Art Murray Field at 4 p.m. BW also hosts OAC foe Wilmington College this Saturday, April 16 in a conference twinbill at Fisher Field. The first game starts at 1 p.m.
Fans are reminded that the official dedication ceremony for Fisher Field will take place on Saturday, April 23 at 12 noon and prior to BW's Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader versus Capital University. The first game begins at 1 p.m.
