By: Amanda Phillips
BEREA, Ohio- The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team finished out their home-and-away Ohio Athletic Conference series with Heidelberg University on Sunday afternoon, splitting games with the Student Princes.
Bookend homeruns by junior first baseman Alexis Castillo (Sunrise, Fla./ The Sagemont School) were not enough for BW as it fell to Heidelberg by a score of 10-7 in game one. The Yellow Jackets got fired up late in the second game as they scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before the umpires called the game due to the growing darkness. BW took the 9-2 victory over Heidelberg to improve to 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the OAC.
Castillo opened the scoring for BW with a 2RBI homer to right field, bringing in senior All-OAC short stop Alex Ludwick (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan), who is this week's OAC Hitter of the Week, to give the home team the 2-1 advantage early on. A pair of homeruns from the Student Princes in the fourth inning put BW down four runs, setting the Jackets up for a late game comeback. A pass ball brought junior designated hitter Drew Wilson (Sagamore Hills/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) home followed up by an RBI double from senior second baseman Tony LoParo (Avon/Elyria Catholic) to shrink Heidelberg's lead to two. In the next inning, senior outfielder Jacob Bonner (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) hit a 2RBI double to even the score ahead of the final three innings. The Student Princes scored four runs over the next couple innings to secure a victory. Castillo hit a solo homerun deep into center field in the last inning to bring game one's final score to 10-7.
On the mound as senior right hander Jeremy McClure (Mentor) got the start but only threw for a third of an inning. Junior righty Garrett McLeod (Medina) pitched a strong 3.2 innings, amassing seven strikeouts and allowing just three hits. Senior left hander Spencer Berg (New Albany) came in during the fifth to pitch six strikeouts and earn the loss for the Jackets. Closing out for the pitching staff was junior righty Clay Anderson (Garfield Heights/Trinity) in the final two innings with a pair of strikeouts and runs.
Both teams fought against the rain to create offense in the second game as the first hit came from junior right fielder Kevin McSweeney (Seven Hills/Trinity) in the bottom of the second before Heidelberg earned the first pair of runs of the game in the following two innings. The Jackets finally found their momentum in the bottom of the fifth as Wilson hit a single to right field bringing in LoParo and putting the score at 2-1. Castillo and Ludwick both hit to the outfield in their ensuing at-bats to bring two more runners in and give the Jackets a 3-2 lead headed into the sixth. BW's hitters found their stride in the sixth, bringing home six runs from six different batters before the umpires called the game for due to the lack of lighting as the day came to a close. The Jackets earned the 9-2 win over Heidelberg.
Getting the start on the mound for BW was freshman Brendon Hink (Poland/ Neshannock {Pa.}) for the first three innings. Hink earned four strikeouts before freshman right hander Kyle Maruna (Medina) pitched the final three innings and allowed one run on one hit with three strikeouts
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Friday, April 2 when it hosts an OAC doubleheader against Otterbein University on Fisher Field at 1 p.m.
