Baseball scores 22 runs, records 33 hits in double header split at Bluffton

By: Andrew Korba

BLUFFTON -- The Ohio Northern baseball team split a double header at Bluffton on Monday afternoon at Memorial Field.

Bluffton (17-15) used a late rally and won the first game in extra innings 10-9, while Northern (20-11) captured Game 2 by a 13-5 score.

In Game 2, all 10 players with an at-bat had at least one hit for the Polar Bears, with junior Brady Foley and sophomore Nick Guitar recording three hits each.

ONU struck for five runs in the first inning.

Sophomore Nick Eltzroth, Foley and Guitar all had a RBI in the inning, while junior Dan Belliveau had a 2-run double.

ONU tacked on another run in the second on a RBI triple from Guitar.

The Beavers got on the board in the second with a single run.

Northern scored twice in the third, but Bluffton came back with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame and added another run in the fourth, to cut the Polar Bears lead to 8-5.

ONU put the game away in the fifth, scoring five more runs.

Sophomore Andy Lubonovic drew a 1-out walk and moved to third on a single from Foley.

Junior Jack LaMarca followed with a RBI double and Belliveau came up and laced a 2-RBI triple, making the score 11-5.

Guitar would come up and single to score Belliveau. An error on the play by the centerfielder allowed Guitar to round the bases and score on the play.

The game was called after six innings, due to fading light.

Freshman Devin Carr went five innings, picking up his third win of the season.

In the first game, LaMarca paced ONU going 4-for-5 with four RBI's.

The Polar Bears trailed 7-5 heading into the seventh, but rallied for four runs to take a 9-7 lead.

Guitar led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a RBI double from sophomore Clay Small.

Sophomore Cody Meyer would reach on a fielder's choice and sophomore Andy Lubonovic hit a sac fly to tie the game.

LaMarca would single to score two runs and give the Polar Bears a 9-7 lead.

But the Beavers would rally for 2-runs in the seventh and would score another run in the eighth for the win.

Northern used a 2-run third inning to jump in front 2-1.

The Beavers would respond with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead at 5-2.

ONU inched closer with two more runs in the fourth, with LaMarca and Belliveau each recording a RBI.

The Polar Bears also scored a run in the fifth on a RBI single by Meyer.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Tuesday, when it travels to take on Division I foe Valparaiso (Ind.) at 4 pm EST.