Aselage's game winning single earns ONU a split with St. Francis (Ind.)

ADA — On a cold, breezy day at Wander Field, the Ohio Northern baseball team battled St. Francis (Ind.) to a double header split Friday afternoon.

The Cougars (5-15) used a solid pitching performance from Marc Gillig (1-0) to take game one 5-1 but the Polar Bears (6-9) battled back from two different three-run deficits to pull out a 7-6 victory in game two in their last at-bat.

Brandon Aselage singled through a drawn-in infield to score freshman Adam Grof for the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to earn the Polar Bears a split.

ONU freshman Chris Sobieray was 3-for-4 on the day with one RBI and two runs scored.

Grof was 2-for-3 in game two which included a key two-run double in the fifth inning. St. Francis's Humberto Nunez was 4-for-8 on the day with a pair of runs scored and two RBIs.

In game one, Gillig held Northern to just four hits and one run while striking out seven in the complete game victory.

The Cougars got single tallies in the first, fourth, fifth and a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh.

Northern's lone run came in the fourth on a Drew Robinson's RBI single that scored Sobieray who had walked to start the inning.

Junior Brian Hill (0-3) started for ONU, allowing four runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

USF wasted little time in getting on the board in game two as Travis Potchka and Jarrod Wehri each walked and were at second and third with one out in the top of the first.

A sacrifice fly by Taylor Futterknecht scored Potchka and then was followed by Tony Drysdale's long home run to left to give the Cougars an early 3-0 lead.

ONU tied the game in the bottom of the second as sophomore Greg Gibbons singled to left with the bases loaded and two outs to score Northern's first two runs.

Sobieray followed with a single of his own to plate the third run of the inning.

St. Francis looked for another crooked number in the third as John Saporsantos doubled to start the inning and after a walk to Wehri, scored on Futterknecht's single.

The Cougars had runners at second and third with nobody out but Robinson, ONU's game two starter, got the next three batters to pop-out on the infield to thwart the rally.

USF would put down more runs on the board in the fourth on Saporsantos two-run homer to left to push the lead back to three at 6-3 through four innings.

Grof's two-run double in the bottom of the fifth brought ONU within one at 6-5 and Fleischman's RBI single in the sixth to score Greg Gibbons evened the game at 6-6.

Freshman Andy Zaebst and sophomores Kevin Sigg and Brett Katana each worked scoreless innings in relief of Robinson, who pitched the first four innings.

With the score tied at 6-6, Grof led off ONU's half of the seventh with a bloop-single. Eric Stegman then squared to bunt and was hit by the pitch, putting runners on first and second with no out.

Jeff Pope followed with a fielders choice that erased Stegman at second but put runners on the corners, setting up Aselage's dramatics.

"That was a good team win in game two," said ONU head coach Justin Bergman.

"We came out flat in game one and really battled back well in game two."

Katana picked up his first career win by pitching a scoreless seventh as Tristen Peffley was saddled with the loss, falling to 0-1.

ONU returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 25 when it travels to Bluffton for a double header at 2 pm.