By: Jay Garneau
ADRIAN, Mich.—Despite taking an early lead three different times, the Ohio Northern baseball team's upset effort came up short in a 15-4 loss to No. 8 ranked Adrian (Mich.) in a non-conference game at Nicolay Field on Wednesday night.
The Polar Bears fall to 14-22 overall, while the Bulldogs (30-6) increase their winning streak to 13 games and earn their 30th victory for the fifth straight year.
Ohio Northern was led offensively by senior Matt Hampshire, who finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, and senior Chad Coward, who added a 2-for-4 effort with a double and two runs scored.
Sam Fischer led an Adrian offense that totaled 13 hits, finishing 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored.
ONU's pitchers struggled with their command all night, walking 16 batters, including eight over the last three innings, in which Adrian scored 10 unanswered runs.
Despite the wild pitching, Northern held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Adrian took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth inning.
ONU jumped out to an early one-run advantage, as senior Josh Murphy doubled and scored on a Hampshire single in the first inning.
After the Bulldogs tied it in the bottom of the inning, Coward singled and advanced on a groundout before scoring on a single from sophomore Brian Thomas.
Adrian once again tied it, this time at 2-2, in the third inning, but junior Devin Kisor hit a ground-rule double and came around to score on a pair of groundouts, giving ONU the 3-2 advantage.
The Bulldogs took advantage of two hits and two walks in a three-run fifth inning, propelling them to outscore ONU 13-1 the rest of the way.
Coward doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and stole home to cut the deficit to 5-4 the next inning, but four singles, a double and two walks helped Adrian to a five-run sixth inning, taking a 10-4 lead.
Adrian tacked on five more runs in the eighth, highlighted by an Anthony Sergi two-run double, to cap the scoring at 15-4.
Sean Hartman (2-0) earned the win with 3.2 innings in relief, allowing one earned run, while Josh Richardson and Lucas Willitzer added scoreless innings out of the pen for Adrian.
Senior Justin Good (1-2) took the loss in relief, while starter Logan Schwerer received a no decision after 2.0 innings, allowing one run.
Sophomore Chris Leiby and senior Jerry Beard were the only two pitchers to have scoreless outings, as eight pitchers entered the game for ONU.
Ohio Northern will close out its season on Saturday, as the team will host John Carroll in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader at 1 p.m., also honoring its 12 seniors before the first game.