Oberlin, Ohio – After a lackluster Saturday that saw the Yeomen get swept by Kenyon College, the Oberlin College baseball team responded in grand fashion on Sunday, earning a 10-9 win in game one before finishing off the Lords with a 12-2 victory in eight innings in game two.
In game one it surely wasn't stress-free, but the Yeomen found a way to score two in the bottom of the seventh – winning in walk-off fashion on Andrew Hutson's single through the right side to score Mike McDonald.
Entering the top of the seventh, the Yeomen appeared to be in control with an 8-5 lead on with McDonald on the mound looking to lock down his third save of the season. The sidearm specialist entered in the sixth and recorded two strikeouts and a groundout, but the final three outs were not nearly as easy to obtain.
The first two Kenyon hitters would reach with singles, and the first run of the inning would then come around to score on a fielder's choice groundout. Back-to-back singles by Nate Lotze and Kyle Hardacker would push another run across and make it an 8-7 game. McDonald would retire Andrew Dunn on a weak chopper out in front of the plate for the second out of the inning, but Lords catcher Sam Gillespie punched a 1-2 pitch through the right side to score two runs and give Kenyon a 9-8 lead.
However, the Yeomen would not be denied as they still had life heading into the bottom of the seventh. Mitch Novak led off the inning with a single and Sean Cohen was grazed with a pitch to put the potential game-winning run on board with nobody out. McDonald would then get his revenge with a hard-hit single through the left side to score Novak and tie the game at 9-9. Later in the frame Jeff Schweighoffer would single to center to load the bases for Hutson, who was already 2-for-3 with a walk before heading to the plate. The Yeomen's leading hitter did not disappoint as he served a 1-1 pitch into shallow right field to propel the Yeomen to the win.
The Yeomen scored three in the first and one in the second to lead 4-3 after two, but Kenyon could regain the lead with a pair of its own in the third. The Yeomen would retake control by plating a pair in the fourth and fifth innings to claim an 8-5 cushion.
Eric Knight got the start on the bump and left with the lead after working 5-plus innings in the no-decision. He allowed six hits and five runs (four earned), while walking two and punching out one. McDonald was credited with the win and is now 2-2 on the year.
Game two turned out to be pitcher's duel until the very end when the Yeomen exploded for seven runs with two-outs in the eighth to earn the run-rule victory.
The Lords scratched out a run in the top of the first, but the Yeomen answered right back with a pair in the home-half of the inning. Novak led off the game with a single and would score on Cohen's double down the right field line. He would then come across the dish on a single to center by Knight.
Kenyon would again post a single tally in the third to even the score at 2-2.
After the shaky first inning, Lords pitcher Mike Jeffers settled in and retired 11 in a row at one point until Knight's single up the middle with one out in the sixth would end the streak, but that wasn't the biggest blow to Jeffers in the inning. Daniel Baldocchi would deliver a towering two-out three-run home run over the wall in left center to give the Yeomen a 5-2 lead. It was the sophomore's first-career long ball. In his previous at-bat in the fourth he just missed another home run as he drove Lords left fielder Andrew Dunn to the wall where he reached up and made the catch – however, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound first basemen got all of it the second time around.
Ben Whitener got the start on the mound and went toe-to-toe with Jeffers through four innings before being lifted at the start of the fifth for rookie reliever Jesse Kohler. The right-hander from Maple Glenn, Pennsylvania, went on to toss four more innings of scoreless baseball, scattering five hits while fanning two and walking none to improve to 2-0 on the year.
With the game still very much in the balance entering the eighth with Oberlin leading 5-2, the Lords just came apart at the seams. A tailor-made double play ball that was hit at the Kenyon shortstop was not completed as the player gloved the ball, stepped on second, but never threw to first – thinking there was already three outs in the inning. It was a mistake that proved costly for the Lords as the Yeomen went on to score seven runs with two outs.
What ensued following the mental error were seven straight Yeomen hits. Baldocchi, Mattie DeDoes, Ryan Bliss, Novak (2), Cohen and McDonald all had RBI's during the offensive barrage, which ultimately ended the game via the 10-run rule.
With the sweep the Yeomen evened up their overall record at 11-11 and more importantly improved to 4-2 in NCAC East play. Kenyon fell to 14-8 and 3-5 in league play.
The Yeomen are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday afternoon when they make the short drive to Case Western Reserve for non-conference doubleheader. Game one is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.