BEREA, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team swept crosstown rival John Carroll University in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader on Seniors' Day by final scores of 10-2 and 2-0 as junior Academic All-OAC left-hander Brit Kostura (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian School) recorded the fifth no-hitter in program history in Game 2 at Fisher Field.
May 2, 2025 will go down as a day to remember at Fisher Field. Rivals BW (26-13, 13-5 OAC) and John Carroll (22-14, 11-7 OAC) faced off in their last ever regular season series as conference opponents. Each sat tied at third in the OAC standings entering the final week of the regular season and a sweep by either team would lock up the third seed in the OAC Tournament. With rain in the forecast all weekend, this would be each team's final regular season game.
After BW headed into the seventh inning with a 6-2 lead in Game 1, the forecast proved to be accurate as the inclement weather caused nearly a two-hour rain delay. The Brown and Gold came out of the wait by adding four combined runs in the eighth and ninth to conclude a 10-2 win and to move one game ahead of the Blue Streaks in the OAC standings.
The Yellow Jackets then took an early lead in Game 2 thanks to a solo home run by junior All-OAC center fielder Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City), but that was enough to give BW's southpaw Brit Kostura room to work with. Kostura has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning on two separate occasions this season, and would do it again after allowing only two walks after six innings. He retired all three batters in the seventh and only walked one in the eighth leaving only three outs standing in his way of finally going the distance. Kostura forced two groundouts to start the inning with left fielder Ethan Glossa being the Blue Streaks final hope. After getting down in a 3-0 count, Kostura forced one down the middle, got Glossa to foul one off, and pumped the sixth pitch of the at bat past Glossa as the Brown and Gold bench swarmed the mound to celebrate the lefty's historic outing. Kostura goes down in the history books as only the fifth BW pitcher with a recorded no-hitter in program history and the first since Josh Scott no-hit Ohio Christian University in the 2011 season.
Because the May weather erased the Yellow Jackets' scheduled regular season finale on Sunday, the team held an improvised post-game ceremony to celebrate its 15 seniors. Head Coach Brian Harrison and the baseball program congratulated Justin Carinci, Eric Coode, Mason Decker, Vince Dolcemaschio, Noah English, Brandon Gelpi, Harrison Johnson, Mally Kilbane, Joey Marousek, Grant Mitchell, Sam Patriarco, Dylan Snyder, Patrick Straub, Kade Swisher, and Nathan Zinn on completing their outstanding baseball careers.
Game 1
Scoring Plays
- Bottom 1st - Senior right fielder Justin Carinci (Ajax, Ontario/Pickering) answered the Blue Streaks' first-inning homer with a bomb of his own to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 lead
- Bottom 1st - Senior Academic All-OAC second baseman Noah English (Perrysburg) singled to center field to give BW an insurance run
- Bottom 2nd - Senior All-OAC left fielder Joey Marousek (North Royalton) poked a single up the middle as junior Academic All-OAC shortstop Matt Terzola (Uniontown/Archbishop Hoban) scored from second
- Bottom 5th - Sophomore catcher Mason Fixx (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) scored on the Blue Streaks' second balk of the game
- Bottom 5th - Junior All-OAC third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) scored after English drew a bases-loaded walk
- Bottom 7th - Ritlinger-Nirider mashed his fifth home run in as many days with a three-pointer to left center
- Bottom 8th - Marousek drove in the Brown and Gold's tenth run of the day with a single to right
On the Mound
- Senior All-OAC right-hander Vince Dolcemaschio (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School) held John Carroll to only two earned runs on five hits and a walk as he fanned six batters over six innings to earn his conference-leading seventh win of the season
- Junior All-OAC right-hander Tyler Walker (Fairlawn/Copley) picked up the three-inning save where he allowed no earned runs and two hits with two strikeouts
Game 2
Scoring Plays
- Bottom 8th - Ritlinger-Nirider tied the OAC lead with his ninth home run of the season
- Bottom 8th - Carinci's sacrifice bunt allowed BW to tack on another run
On the Mound
- Kostura tossed a complete-game no-hitter retiring 26 of his 29 batters with seven strikeouts and only three walks. Kostura now improves to 4-0 on the season
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Sunday, May 4 when they travel to Erie, Pennsylvania to take on Alfred State (N.Y.) College in a non-conference game on the campus of Gannon (Pa.) University at 2 p.m. at McConnell Family Stadium.