ANGOLA, Ind.-- A pair of solid pitching efforts and some timely hitting led Trine to a sweep over Alma in an MIAA-doubleheader Friday afternoon at Jannen Field.
Andy Farrell (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/St. Vincent St. Mary) fired a two-hit shutout and Jordan Baer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Leo) came through with a clutch RBI-single to lead the Thunder to a 1-0 victory in game one. A pinch-hit two-run single by Colton Conn (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) and a complete game effort from Eddie Tomich (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) was enough for a 3-2 Trine win in game two. Baer finished the day with two hits and two RBIs. Trine improved to 9-12 overall and evened its conference mark at 5-5. Alma falls to 12-10 overall. The Scots are 3-7 in league play.
Game One: Trine 1, Alma 0
Farrell's gem and Baer's clutch hit were the difference in the victory.
Farrell retired the first 13 batters in order, which included a leaping catch by Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) to keep the sophomore lefty perfect. Farrell kept the Scot hitters on their heels all day, striking out six and walking four to earn his second-career shutout. The 120-pitch effort evened Farrell's record at 2-2 on the season.
Trine pushed across its run in the fifth. Kyle Auernhamer (Vassar, Mich./Vassar) led off with a single and was able to race all the way over to third on Kory Shackle's (Butler, Ohio/Mount Vernon) sac bunt.
Alma then elected to intentionally walk Jake Kendall (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) to bring up the lefty-lefty matchup between Baer and Scot pitcher Philip Jock. The all-conference first baseman made Alma pay for the decision, lacing a single to left to score Auernhamer for the lone run of the game.
Auernhamer cut down a runner trying to steal in the top of the sixth to help preserve the shutout. Farrell was able to work around two two-out walks in the seventh, striking out the final batter to seal the victory.
Jock allowed just the one run and was tagged with the loss. He allowed five hits, walked three and fanned four.
Game Two: Trine 3, Alma 2
Tomich's complete game and timely hitting from Baer and Conn gave the Thunder the victory.
A one-out single from Kendall put a runner on for Baer in the bottom of the first. The senior ripped a line-drive double off the wall in right-center to bring in Kendall and put Trine up 1-0.
Alma fought back with single runs in the third and fifth to take the lead. Austin Roeske doubled and came in to score on an RBI-groundout by Yoan De La Rosa in the third. The Scots loaded the bases with one out in the fifth. A runner came in to score on a soft ground ball off the bat of Doug Walters, but Tomich was able to hold the Scots there.
A triple to left-center by Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union) put Trine in business in the bottom of the sixth. Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) was then hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners with one out. Thorn then moved up to second with a steal.
Conn then entered the game as a pinch-hitter, before falling behind 0-2 in the count. The freshman fought off several pitches to work the count to 2-2 and bounced a single back through the drawn-in Scot infield to put the Thunder up 3-2.
Tomich made that lead stand up in the final inning to complete the victory. The senior allowed two earned runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out two to improve to 3-3 on the year.
The two teams will conclude the MIAA series tomorrow at Alma. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.