Baseball sweeps OAC doubleheader at Mount Union to extend winning streak to seven

ALLIANCE — The Ohio Northern baseball team extended its winning streak to seven games with an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep at Mount Union, winning 5-1 and 6-1.  

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (21-14 overall, 10-6 OAC), Mount Union (24-12 overall, 8-8 OAC).
• Venue: Rafeld-Rogers Field - Alliance, Ohio.

Game 1 - W, 5-1

• The opener was a no-hitter for both teams through the first five innings until sophomore Chase Armstrong (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) singled to left field in the top of the sixth.
• Armstrong then scored along with freshman Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.) off a single by Logan Stevens (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) to make the score 2-0.
• In the top of the eighth, junior Sam Sells (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) singled home Stevens and freshman Evan Russ (Westfield Ind.) singled home sophomore Robbie Reed (Goshen Ky./Trinity) to make the score 4-0.
• Mount Union answered with one run in the bottom of the eighth.
• Lapp scored once more in the top of the ninth off a Sells walk.
• Lapp went 3-for-4 with two runs in the opener.
• Fifth-year senior Jack Hutchins pitched the first seven innings and got the win on the mound, only allowing four hits and striking out four.
• Junior Blake Peterson (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) threw two scoreless innings to earn his third save of the season.
• ONU out-hit MTU 10-5.

Game 2 - W, 6-1

• Mount Union scored their only run in the bottom of the first inning.
• Ohio Northern scored their first three runs in the top of the third and their last three runs in the top of the sixth.
• In the top of the third, junior Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) singled home Armstrong and freshman Marco Morrison (Whitehouse/Anthony Wayne) singled home Reed and Lapp, making the score 3-1.
• In the top of the sixth inning, Russ scored on a sacrifice bunt by Sells.
• To finish out the game, Armstrong hit a two-run homer, making the score 6-1 after the sixth inning.
• Russ went 3-for-4 in the second game with one run.
• Senior Noah Truax (Lewis Center/Bishop Watterson) pitched a complete game only allowing five hits and striking out seven.
• ONU out-hit MTU 9-5.

Notables

• Northern is in a third place tie with Marietta in the OAC regular season standings with 10-6 records.
• ONU will clinch a spot in the 4-team OAC Tournament with one win in its regular season-ending double header at home with Heidelberg on May 4.
• Russ was 5-for-9 on the day with one RBI and one run.
• Juniors Joey Kennedy (Sterling Heights, Mich./Foley Catholic), Sells, and Stechschulte lead the team in hitting through 35 games with averages of .394, .364 and .336, respectively.
• Stechschulte leads the team with 46 hits.
• Armstrong leads the squad with 14 doubles, seven home runs, 43 RBI and a .627 slugging percentage. He is ranked sixth at ONU in single-season RBIs.
• Ohio Northern is now 69-45-1 all-time against Mount Union, including a 30-22-1 mark in Alliance.
• Ohio Northern is in its 119th season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1462-1151 all-time, a winning percentage of .560.
• 13th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 274-203 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .574.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Oberlin.