PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team split a pair of games against Babson (Mass.) College and Moravian (Pa.) College at the Snowbird Classic at the South Charlotte Regional Park.
BW (6-1) fell to Babson (3-1) by a score of 6-5 on a ninth inning walkoff, the team's first loss of the season, but bounced back with a 5-1 win over Moravian (3-2) in the second game.
In game one, senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference outfielder Alex Marcum (Granville) got things started with a bang with a solo home run. Babson countered for one run on a fielder's choice in the bottom half of the inning, however. Inning after inning, the Yellow Jackets and the Beavers continued to trade runs. Senior outfielder Chase Knodle (Poland/Seminary) hit an RBI single in the top of the second for a 2-1 BW lead but the Beavers drove in two runs in the bottom of the fourth to go up 3-2. Senior All-OAC infielder Spencer Badia (Bellaire) hit a solo shot to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning but Babson chopped a single up the middle in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead, one they held until the top of the ninth inning.
Channeling the walkoff winner from the day before, Marcum hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 4-4 while Badia drove in senior All-OAC catcher Trent Kaltenbach (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) to take the lead. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Michael Hubert (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) took to the mound for the bottom of the ninth but could not keep the Beavers off the bases, giving them the opportunity for their own walkoff.
Knodle and Badia led BW at the plate with two hits apiece while Badia had two RBIs.
On the mound, senior American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Mideast Region and All-OAC pitcher Evan Lovick (Mentor) threw a season-high seven innings but gave up his first runs of the season, allowing six hits and three earned runs with one walk and five strikeouts. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Max Adams (Massillon/Washington) went one scoreless inning while Hubert was tagged with the loss, giving up two hits and two earned runs in the bottom of the ninth.
BW looked to bounce back in the second game against Moravian but could not get the bats going until the fourth inning when Badia scored on a passed ball. Junior catcher Asa Adams (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) added a second run in that inning when he brought home junior first baseman Philip Wells (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate) with a single down the line. The Greyhounds plated their only run of the game in the fifth inning and only trailed 2-1 but would not come any closer. The Yellow Jackets added one run in the seventh and two runs in the eighth to seal a 5-1 victory.
At the plate, freshman utility player Alex Ludwick (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan) had a game-high three hits, scored one run and stole one base.
Senior right-handed pitcher Brandon Wysong (Bradford) earned his first start of the season, going five strong innings of work, allowing just one unearned run on three hits. Max Adams and Hubert each saw action again in the second game, combining for one hit, three walks and three strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Senior left-handed pitcher Chad Kuebler (Toledo/Central Catholic) came in with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning and finished off the game with three strikeouts, not allowing a hit, walk or a run.
The Yellow Jackets will be back in action at the Snowbird Classic on Monday, March 5, for a single game against Bluffton University at 3:30 p.m. at the North Charlotte Regional Park #9.
