Rader's 5-for-7 day and walk-off double in Game 1 lead Baseball to doubleheader sweep over Wilmington
By Jay Garneau
ADA — In a doubleheader sweep of Wilmington, the Ohio Northern baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh and used a walk-off double by senior Matt Rader in extra innings to win the opener and an eight-run inning en route to a win in Game 2 at Wander Field Tuesday afternoon.
The Polar Bears won Game 1 6-5 in eight innings and Game 2 11-4 to improve to 23-9 (8-6 Ohio Athletic Conference), while the Quakers fall to 6-26-1 (2-11-1 OAC).
Rader finished the day 5-for-7 with a double, walk, three stolen bases and three RBIs to lead the ONU offense.
In the opener, ONU scored first when senior Greg Gibbons hit a sacrifice fly to score junior Mike Hoelzel before Wilmington scored two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth to take a 5-1 advantage.
The Polar Bears were able to string together five singles to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh.
Sophomore Eric Yunker led off with a single before senior Loren Fleischman was hit by a pitch. Juniors Erik Stegman, Hoelzel and Adam Yunker each added singles to score the first two runs. After an RBI fielder's choice by Gibbons, sophomore Matt Hampshire tied the game on a quirky two-out play.
Hampshire hit a dribbler to the left of the pitcher's mound. After fielding it cleanly, the Quaker pitcher lost his footing as he threw, and the first baseman was unable to scoop the throw out of the dirt as Hampshire reached on an RBI infield single to tie the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Fleischman walked and Stegman singled. With two outs, Rader drilled a walk-off double into the left field corner to score Fleischman for the game-winning run.
Sophomore Justin Good had an outstanding start, going 7 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits, three walks, and two earned runs, while striking out eight. Senior Brett Katana struck out the last batter in the top of the eighth to pick up the win and improve to 3-1.
In Game 2, the two teams traded runs in each of the first two innings, with Rader scoring on an Adam Yunker RBI single in the first and Fleischman scoring on a Rader RBI single in the second, as the game was even at 2-2.
After the Quakers scored two runs in the third, ONU cut the margin to one when Gibbons doubled and scored on an RBI single by Eric Yunker.
The Polar Bears sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs on nine hits, all singles, to take a commanding 11-4 lead.
Stegman led off with an infield single. After advancing to second on a groundout, Rader singled and stole second. Adam Yunker then drove them both in on a two-run single to right center.
After Gibbons singled, Katana was hit by a pitch, which set up a barrage of five straight singles by Eric Yunker, Fleischman, Stegman, Hoelzel and Rader that plated six more runs.
ONU's relief pitchers, including sophomore Jacob Drerup, senior Kevin Sigg and sophomore Jerry Beard, combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and no walks to lead the Polar Bears on the mound. Drerup's 2 2/3 innings earned him the win as he improves to 1-1 on the season.
Each of the Yunkers had two hits, three RBIs, a stolen base and a run in the game.
Katana now has 160 career hits and moves into sole possession of ninth place in ONU history.
Gibbons, who finished the day 3-for-8, now has 154 hits in his career, 12th best all-time.
Fleischman went 3-for-5, totaling 114 career hits to move into 35th in ONU history.
ONU will host Defiance for a one nine-inning non-conference game tomorrow at 4 pm before celebrating Senior Day in an OAC doubleheader against Mount Union Saturday at 1 pm.