Baseball splits doubleheader with Simpson (Iowa)

By Wes Mayberry

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The Ohio Northern baseball team split a doubleheader with Simpson (Iowa) on Sunday in the RussMatt Invitational at Lake Myrtle Park Field.

The Polar Bears (4-3 overall) won the second game 9-3 after falling 2-1 to the Storm (2-6 overall) in the opener.

Sophomore Blake Peterson (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) earned the win on the mound in Game 2 after giving up two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out three over four innings.

Sophomore Blake Altaffer (Montpelier) pitched three innings in relief and allowed one run on one hit while striking out five.

Senior Jacob Wenning (Coldwater) led the ONU offense with three hits and added two RBIs. Sophomore Joey Kennedy (Sterling Heights, Mich./Foley Catholic) and junior Logan Stevens (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) added two hits each.

ONU's scoring was highlighted by a pair of fifth-inning home runs.

With the score tied at 2-2, Stevens hit a one-out, two-run homer in the top of the fifth, and junior Derek Foe (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) added a two-out, three-run bomb later in the frame to give the Polar Bears a 7-2 lead en route to the victory.

Looking for his third win of the season, senior Jack Hutchins (Bright, Ind./East Central) pitched well for ONU in Game 1 but ended with a no-decision. He allowed one unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out nine over seven innings.

The Polar Bear offense managed just three hits against the Storm's pitching duo of Trey Castile and Dylan Schlee.

Northern scored its only run of the game on a sac fly from Wenning in the bottom of the first inning.

Simpson answered to tie the score in the top of the fourth and scored what proved to be the winning run when Ryan Willis reached on an error in the top of the ninth.

The Polar Bears return to action on Monday for a game against SUNY Cobleskill at 1 p.m.