Baseball rallies for 6-5 victory over area-rival Bluffton

By Tim Glon

ADA — Ohio Northern rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge area-rival Bluffton 6-5 in a non-conference baseball game Monday afternoon at Wander Field.

The Polar Bears improve to 11-12 overall, while the Beavers fall to 13-12.

Senior Cory Martin drilled a 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to score senior Kevin Obarski and sophomore Jack LaMarca with the tying and go-ahead runs.

Northern trailed 5-3 entering the frame and sophomore Dan Belliveau started a 2-out rally with a single through the right side of the infield.

Obarski followed with a single to left and LaMarca scored Belliveau with a single to center to make it 5-4.

Martin then drilled a double into the right center field gap to score both Obarski and LaMarca to put the Polar Bears up 6-5.

Freshman Alex Crabtree then pitched the ninth inning to pick up his second save of the season.

"Our seniors came through for us in the clutch today," ONU head coach Gene Stechschulte said. "We kept battling and found a way to get the job done."

Freshman Ben Eckert (1-2) picked up the first win of his career in relief.

Crabtree got a big defensive hand from freshman third baseman Nick Eltzroth, who snapped a low line drive and threw to first base for a game-ending double play in the top of the ninth.

LaMarca got the Polar Bears on the board with a triple to right center field in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Obarski to tie the game at 1-1.

Freshman Reed Allen followed with a 2-out, 2-run single to cap the 3-run rally and put ONU on top 3-1.

Bluffton tied the game with two runs in the sixth and went up 4-3 with a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the top of the seventh.

BU added another run in the top of the eighth, setting up Martin's heroics.

Belliveau also had an outstanding defensive play in right field to get Northern out of a jam in the top of the eighth.

With a runner on second and two out, Belliveau threw out the runner at the plate attempting to score from second base on a single.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Wednesday with an Ohio Athletic Conference double header at 1 pm at Heidelberg.