ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's baseball team swept Muskingum in a pair of Ohio Athletic Conference games Saturday at Rafeld-Rogers Field. The Purple Raiders held on to win the opener 9-7 then got an 8-1 win in game two.
The sweep sends Mount Union's record to 12-4 overall and 10-4 in the OAC while the Muskies fall to 5-6 overall and 5-4 in the OAC.
Eric Schilling (Stow / Stow-Munroe Falls) hit for the cycle to lead Mount Union in game one as he drove in three runs and accounted for four of the Raiders 10 hits.
It was the first cycle for a Mount Union hitter since Jimmy Scott did it against Hiram in 2016.
Muskingum scored a run in the first for an early lead before Mount Union came back with two in the bottom of the frame on a Schilling triple and a Trey Weaver (Franklin, Pa. / Franklin Area) sacrifice fly.
The Raiders then extended the lead with a six-run fourth inning with Schilling providing a big two-run home run and Mount Union led, 8-1.
The Muskies got three runs back in the fifth capped by a two-run home run from Brett Carson. Mount Union answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to leave the score at 9-4.
Muskingum rallied with single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth but Colin Skufca (Wooster) got out of the final inning with his first save of the year.
Thomas Gallant (Pataskala / Watkins Memorial) started and went six innings and gave up four runs, three earned, and struck out six to move to 4-0 for Mount Union.
Brayden Bush took the loss for Muskingum.
In game two, Carson Davis (Louisville) went the distance allowing just a run on eight his and struck out seven to take his record to 4-1 on the season and lead Mount Union to an 8-1 win.
Mount Union scored runs in five different innings and cranked out 12 hits. Walker Marlowe (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) drove in three runs on a double and a home run, while Zack Mazza (Flint, Mich. / Powers Catholic) and Joey Nave (Toronto / Edison) each had two hits.
Jake Norris was the losing pitcher for the Muskies.
The same two teams are slated to play a doubleheader Sunday at 1 p.m. in New Concord.