Baseball holds off late charge, posts 9-8 victory at Albion (Mich)

ALBION, Mich. — The Ohio Northern baseball team held off a late charge to post a 9-8 non-conference victory at Albion (Mich.) on Wednesday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (8-10 overall), Albion (8-9 overall).
• Venue: Champions Stadium - Albion, Mich.

Game Highlights

• The Polar Bears scored twice in the top of the second and three more in the fourth to grab a 5-1 lead.
• The Britons scored single runs in the second, fourth and seventh innings to get within 5-3.
• Northern scored four times in the top of the eighth, keyed by a 2-run single from freshman Zane Pratt (Piqua), to increased its lead to 9-3.
• AC then answered with three runs in the home half of the frame to climb back within 9-6 heading into the final inning.
• Albion got the first two runners on board in the bottom of the ninth, and scored both on consecutive sacrifice flies to get within 9-8.
• But freshman Matt Serdinak (Sagamore Hills/Walsh Jesuit) struck out the next batter to end the game and pick up his first career save.
• Pratt, junior Sam Sells (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) and sophomore Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky./Trinity) each had three hits on the day to lead the ONU offense.
• Junior Blake Altaffer (Montpelier) threw six strong innings, allowing only two runs while striking out four, to earn the win and improve to 2-2 on the season.
• AC out-hit ONU 16-13.

Notables

• Ohio Northern is now 12-5 all-time against Albion, including a 4-3 mark at Albion.
• Junior Joey Kennedy (Sterling Heights, Mich./Foley Catholic) and Sells lead the team through 18 games with batting averages of .441 and .362, respectively.
• Ohio Northern is in its 119th season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1450-1147 all-time, a winning percentage of .558.
• 13th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 262-199 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .568.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action on Friday with an OAC double header at Marietta.