BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team split an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader today (Saturday, April 3, 2010) with rival and eighth-ranked (Collegiate Baseball Division III poll) Marietta College at Don Scahly Stadium in Marietta.
The Yellow Jackets won the opener, 14-5, to end an eight-game Marietta win streak and the Pioneers captured the nightcap, 9-5. With its split, the Yellow Jackets are now 6-9 overall and 1-1 in the OAC. With its split, the 8th-ranked Pioneers are now 17-4 overall and 3-1 in the OAC.
In the opener, B-W jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a five-run second inning. Junior catcher John Ulanski (Bay Village) led off with a single, moved to second base via a fielder's choice and to third via a groungout. He scored when sophomore shortstop Anthony Longhitano (Cuyahoga Falls) singled to center field. Longhitanomoved to third base on a single by freshman center fielder Nolan Neuschaefer (Elyria/ Senior), who also moved to second on a throw to third base. Senior second baseman Matt Rollins (Walbridge/ Millbury Lake)then singled both Longhitano and Neuschaefer home and moved to second on the throw to home plate. Then, senior designated hitter Scott Nealon (Avon Lake) brought home Rollins with a single. Scott Nealon then scored the fifth and final run of the frame when his brother, senior first baseman Chris Nealon (Avon) doubled him home.
After Marietta tied the game at 5-5 with its own five-run frame in the bottom of the third inning, B-W scored three more times in the top of the fourth to take an 8-5 advantage. Longhitano led off with a walk, moved to second when Neuschaefer's sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown away for an error and to third when Rollins'sacrifice bunt was mishandled by the Marietta pitcher for another error. Scott Nealon brought Longhitanohome with a sacrifice bunt that also advanced Neuschaefer to third and Rollins to second. Neuschaefer then scored on a wild pitch and Rollins moved to third base. After a walk to Chris Nealon and a wild pitch that advanced him to second base, senior 3B Jim Martin (Euclid) laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt.
The Jackets increased their lead to eight run with five more runs in the fifth. Junior RF Ted Cowling (Streetsboro) led off with a walk. After an out, he moved to third via a Longhitano single, and Longhitano to second on a throw to third. Neuschaefer followed with a two-run triple to right center to make the score 10-5. Rollins then scored Neuschaefer via a sacrifice fly to make it 11-5. Then, after Scott Nealon and Chris Nealon had back-to-back singles, Martin doubled to right center to score both Nealon's for the eight-run lead.
B-W scored its final run in the sixth. After there was one out, freshman LF Brendan Toughey (East Amherst, N.Y./ St. Josephs Collegiaste Institute) singled, moved to third via Longhitano's third hit of the game and scored via a throwing error.
At the plate, Chris Nealon led the way by going four-for-four with a run scored and an RBI. Lonhghitano was three-for-three with three runs scored and an RBI. Neuschaefer and Scott Nealon each had two hits and drove in two runs. Neuschaefer scored three times and Scott Nealon twice. Rollins and Martin led BW with three RBI each.
On the mound, senior righthander Justin Novak (Strongsville) pitched a complete-game seven innings to improve to 2-1 this season. He allowed eight hits and five runs (five earned) and struck out five Marietta batters and did not walk any. The complete game was his second this season.
In the nightcap, B-W gained a 1-0 lead with a run in the second inning when Martin tripled with one out and scored on a single by senior catcher Matt Bush (Grafton/ Midview) singled him home.
The lead grew to 5-0 with a four-run third. Longhitano led off with a single and moved to third when Neuschaefer reached base via a Pioneer error. Longhitano then scored and Neuschaefer moved to third when Rollins doubled to right field. A Scott Nealon groundout then scored Neuschaefer and a Chris Nealondouble scored Rollins. Martin followed with the third double of the frame to score Chris Nealon.
That was when Marietta began its comeback and scored nine straight runs to earn the split of the twinbill. The Pioneers scored three times in the bottom of the third, once in the fourth, three more in the fifth and once each in the sixth and eighth to gain the 9-5 victory.
At the plate, Rollins led the way with three hits, including a double, scored one run and had an RBI. In addition, Martin had two hits, including a double and triple, scored one run and drove in another. On the mound, senior Scott Luthman (Celina) started, pitched the first six innings, allowed 10 hits and eight runs (all earned), struck out two and walked one. He was tagged with the loss to fall to 1-2 overall. Freshman Pat Havens (Twinsburg) pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowed one base hit (a homerun) and hit a batter.
Following Saturday's twinbill at Marietta, B-W plays at NCAA Division I Cleveland State University on Tuesday, April 6 at 4:00 p.m. at All-Pro Stadium in Avon. The Yellow Jackets next home contest is next Thursday, April 8 when B-W hosts Cleveland cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University at 4:00 p.m. from Heritage Field.
FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Nick Minerd by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at nminerd@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
