ALLIANCE, Ohio -- Mount Union's baseball team set a new school record for wins in a season and stayed alone in second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference after a split with Heidelberg Sunday at 23rd Street Field in Alliance.
Mount Union won the opener 8-6 then rallied in the nightcap before falling 5-4 in 10 innings. The Purple Raiders have a school-record 24 wins (24-10) and at 10-4 in the conference are alone in second place -- two games behind No. 1 ranked Marietta with four OAC games left.
In game one, Connor Mathis (Akron/Firestone) had two hits and he drove in three runs to up his conference leading RBI total to 44 to lead Mount Union.
Jimmy Dobran (Poland/Poland Seminary) also drove in two runs on two hits while on the mound Zach Carlino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) allowed seven hits over 6.2 innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Matt Murzynski (Mentor/Lake Catholic) got the final out to get his first save of the season in just his second relief appearance.
Heidelberg (18-15, 7-7 OAC) led early with a run in the first inning before the Raiders put three on the board in the second with RBI singles from Kyle Osco (Hartville/Lake), Sean Mohney (Lodi/Cloverleaf) and Dobran.
Mount Union added on with a four-run fourth to go up 7-1 with the big hit coming from Mathis in a two-out, two-RBI single.
The Berg came back with single runs in the fifth and sixth inning to get the score to 7-3.
The Raiders tacked on a big run in the bottom of the sixth as Lee Grosscup (Green/Green) had a two-out double then Mathis brought him home with a single.
Heidelberg loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, Carlino was lifted for Murzynski then a double by Ross Pruitt scored two runs and put the tying run on second base.
Murzynski then got OAC home run leader Ricardo Lizcano to fly out for the game's final out.
In game two, Heidelberg took advantage of three Mount Union errors to plate three unearned runs then rallied with a run off a Trevor Oldhan two-out RBI single in the 10th inning to win 5-4.
The Berg never trailed in the game as they scored a run in the first which Mount Union matched with a run in the second on an RBI single from Mohney.
Heidelberg retook the lead with a run in the fourth and a dropped fly ball to lead off the top of the sixth sparked Heidelberg to score two more runs and lead 4-1.
Back-to-back errors from Heidelberg in the seventh allowed Mount Union to get two runs across and close the gap to 4-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, Osco would pinch hit to lead off the inning, draw a walk and was taken out for pinch runner Ian Adair (Norton/Norton) who would later score to tie the game on a single from Ricky Olasz (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin).
Daniel Brannum allowed only one hit over the final 3.2 innings to get the win in relief and go to 6-0 on the season for Heidelberg.
Tom Bekelesky (Akron/Firestone) allowed four runs, only one earned and struck out four over the first six innings while Beau Smith (Frederick, Md./Frederick) allowed only three hits but took the loss in relief.
Mount Union is off during this next week for final exams and will return to the diamond Saturday, April 28 hosting Wilmington in an OAC doubleheader at 1 pm at 23rd Street Field.
Mount Union 8, Heidelberg 6 (Apr 22, 2012 at Alliance, Ohio) (Game 1)
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Heidelberg.......... 100 011 3 - 6 8 0 (17-15, 6-7 OAC)
Mount Union......... 030 401 X - 8 9 1 (24-9, 10-3 OAC)
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Pitchers: Heidelberg - Ryan Minteer; Travis Gray(4); Teddy Lowe(4) and Jordan Martin.
Mount Union - Zach Carlino; Matt Murzynski(7) and C.J. Stotler.
Win-Zach Carlino(4-1) Save-Matt Murzynski(1) Loss-Ryan Minteer(2-2) T-2:05 A-145
Weather: 45, cloudy
Heidelberg 5, Mount Union 4 (Apr 22, 2012 at Alliance, Ohio) (Game 2)
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Heidelberg.......... 100 102 000 1 - 5 10 2 (18-15, 7-7 OAC)
Mount Union......... 010 000 201 0 - 4 8 3 (24-10, 10-4 OAC)
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Pitchers: Heidelberg - Tyler Fruhwirth; Daniel Brannum(7) and Alex Grove. Mount Union -
Tom Bekelsky; Beau Smith(7) and Steve Mitch; C.J. Stotler.
Win-Daniel Brannum(6-0) Loss-Beau Smith(4-4) T-3:00 A-145
Weather: 45, cloudy