Baseball falls 7-5 in extra innings to No. 6 Denison on chilly home opener at Wander Field
March 21, 2024
ADA — The Ohio Northern baseball team opened its home schedule with a 7-5 extra inning loss to No. 6-ranked Denison on a cold Thursday afternoon at Wander Field.
The Basics
- Records: Ohio Northern (6-8 overall), Denison (13-2 overall)
- Venue: Wander Field - Ada, Ohio.
Game Highlights
- Northern took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single from junior Sam Sells (Liberty Center/Olentangy Orange) and a 3-run double by freshman Evan Russ (Westfield, Ind.)
- Junior Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) made it 5-4 with a sac fly in the seventh to score Sells.
- DU tied it at 5-5 in the top of the ninth with a triple and sac fly.
- The Big Red got a two-run home run in the top of the 10th from winning pitcher Jack Rollo to put the visitors up 7-5.
- Northern loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the 10th, but a hard-hit ground ball down the third base line by freshman Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.) was fielded to end the inning.
- DU out-hit ONU 11-8.
Notables
- Ohio Northern opened the home portion of its schedule on Thursday.
- Denison is now 11-9 all-time against ONU, but ONu is 6-3 in series in Ada.
- Junior Joey Kennedy (Sterling Heights, Mich./Foley Catholic) and Lapp lead the team with batting averages of .438 and .385, respectively.
- Ohio Northern is in its 119th season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1448-1145 all-time, a winning percentage of .559.
- 13th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 258-196 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .568.
Up Next
- The Polar Bears will open the Ohio Athletic Conference portion of its schedule on Saturday with a double header against No. 3-ranked Baldwin Wallace at Wander Field.
