Anderson University baseball senior T.J. Price (Anderson, Ind./Daleville) delivered a two-out walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Ravens to an 11-9 victory during Wednesday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup against Manchester University at Don Brandon Field.
Manchester (9-11, 9-11) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, Jason Hall-Manley (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) blasted a three-run homer to even the score at 3-all.
The Spartans scored two runs in the second. Jonathan Willoughby (Speedway, Ind./Speedway) recorded an RBI double in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Manchester provided a two-run single in the top of the fourth. Branton Sanders (Whiteland, Ind./Whiteland) smashed a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-6.
In the fifth, M.J. Furnish (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian) drove in Tyler Burton (Knightstown, Ind./Knightstown) on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 7-all.
The Spartans added an RBI single in the top of the sixth.
Bennie Day (Charlestown, Ind./Jeffersonville) delivered an RBI single to even the score at 8-all in the seventh.
Manchester ripped a solo homer in the top of the ninth to take a 9-8 lead. With the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Justin Reed (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) delivered the game-tying RBI single.
In the top of the 10th, Tyler Smitherman (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) recorded a 1-2-3 inning for the Ravens. Manchester retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 10th. With two outs, Furnish belted a double. Price finished the job with a walk-off shot.
"This was a great win," Coach Matthew Bair said. "It was a total team effort in so many ways. I'm proud of our guys."
Sanders went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer. Furnish finished 4-for-5 with three doubles. Willoughby went 3-for-6 with a double. Price finished 2-for-5 with a two-run homer. Reed went 2-for-5 with a double. Hall-Manley smashed a three-run jack. Smitherman finished 2-for-6 with a double. Burton and Day rounded out Anderson's 19 hits with singles.
Smitherman (1-0) earned the win, retiring each of the three batters he faced. Evan Doan (Frankton, Ind./Frankton) struck out four batters, issued zero walks and allowed two runs on six hits in five innings. Jose Olivo (Knightstown, Ind./Knightstown) fanned three batters, yielded four walks and surrendered seven runs on nine hits in four innings.
Anderson is scheduled to face off with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (10-8, 10-8) in an HCAC doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Don Brandon Field.