Baseball drops 5-3 decision to Aurora (Ill.) in RussMatt Invitational
By Caleb Scott
AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The Ohio Northern baseball team came up short on Thursday morning as it dropped a 5-3 decision to Aurora (Ill.) in the RussMatt Invitational in Auburndale, Florida.
The Polar Bears fall to 4-2 overall, while the Spartans move to 5-3.
Senior Hayden Shenefield (Powell/Worthington Kilbourne) and juniors Caleb Thomas (Strongsville) and Luke Klinehoffer (Zanesville/John Glenn) led Northern offensively with two hits each.
The trio also each record an RBI.
After Northern got out of a first inning bases loaded jam, the Polar Bear offense settled in and Shenefield drove sophomore Phil Buckingham (Wayne/Elmwood) home in the bottom of the second inning to give ONU a 1-0 lead.
With senior Brandon Kasberg (Maumee) on base in the bottom of the third inning, Thomas would hit a single to right field and plate the senior to push the lead to 2-0.
A defensive battle would ensue over the next two innings before AU was able to open the contest up with five runs in the top of the sixth and seventh inning to take a 5-2 lead.
Klinehoffer would give ONU a chance in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single to left center, but ONU couldn't get any closer as Aurora went on to win 5-3.
Junior Blake Lester (Chesepeake) led the way on the bump for the Polar Bears, fanning four batters in six innings of work.
The Polar Bears are off on Friday and will return to action on Saturday with a 9 a.m. contest against RIT (N.Y.) and a 1:15 p.m. contest against Nichols (Mass.)
