Baseball nabs 10-8 win as part of doubleheader split with Mount Union

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — The Ohio Northern baseball team defeated Mount Union 10-8 on Saturday as part of a doubleheader split at Wander Field.

The Polar Bears fell 8-5 in Game 1 of the doubleheader.

After winning Game 1, Mount Union (12-7 overall, 3-1 OAC) opened up a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the second game, but Northern (9-10 overall, 2-2 OAC) answered in the bottom of the fourth.

Senior Corey McMann (Flower Mound, Tex./Liberty Christian) and junior Nate Webb (Bath, Ind./Union County) led off with back-to-back singles, and  junior Jacob Wenning (Coldwater) drove home a run on a single.

Freshman Hunter Kauser (Paulding/Exempted Village) later added a two-out, 2-RBI single to put ONU up 3-2.

The Purple Raiders re-took the lead on a two-run homer from Zack Mazza in the top of the fifth inning, but the Polar Bears again had an answer, scoring five runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

After a one-out double from Wenning in the sixth, senior Chayten Overholt (Delphos/Lincolnview) drove him home with a single, and freshman Ethan Spears (Oregon/Clay) followed with his second home run of the season.

Sophomore Logan Stevens (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) added a 2-RBI single later in the frame to give ONU an 8-4 lead.

The Polar Bears scored their seventh-inning runs on a solo home run from Wenning — his second homer of the year — and a Mount Union wild pitch.

The Raiders mounted a comeback with a four-run eighth inning highlighted by a two-run homer from Eric Schilling, but sophomore Kaidan Domer (Orrville) induced three groundouts in the ninth to secure the win for ONU with his first career save.

McMann and Wenning paced the ONU offense with three hits each.

Stevens, Wenning, Spears and Kauser each tallied a team-high two RBIs.

Freshman Vaughn Duncan (Springfield) got the win on the mound for the Polar Bears, improving to 2-0 on the season after pitching an inning in relief.

Junior Tim Knapschaefer (Maria Stein/Marion Local) got the start for Northern and allowed one earned run on one hit and two walks while striking out seven over four innings.

In Game 1, an RBI single from Wenning brought ONU within two, 4-2, in the bottom of the fifth inning.

But a three-run homer from Schilling and a solo shot from Walker Marlowe in the seventh extended the Raiders' lead.

The Polar Bears answered with a two-run homer from McMann and a solo homer from Webb in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to 8-5 but were held scoreless for the remainder of the game.

Webb now has a team-high three home runs on the season, and McMann increased his tally to two.

Stevens, McMann and Webb led Northern with two hits each in the game, and McMann and Webb had a team-high two RBIs.

Senior Tom Pitko (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) got the pitching start for Northern and allowed four unearned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three over five innings.

The Polar Bears return to action on Sunday to host Allegheny (Pa.) at noon.