WESTFIELD, IND. – A hard-hitting offensive line-up helped guide Manchester University to a non-conference sweep Sunday, March 8.
The Spartans pounded out 34 hits in 18 innings against North Coast Athletic Conference foe DePauw University as part of a 21-run effort in an 11-4, 10-3 twinbill victory. Eight individuals finished the afternoon on the field at Grand Park with three hits-or-more led by the conglomeration of junior catcher Elliott Ford (Rome City, Ind.), senior second baseman Logan Hug (Indianapolis, Ind.), senior outfielder Justin Miller (Yorktown, Ind.), junior outfielder Sean Knepper (Bremen, Ind.), sophomore first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.), senior shortstop Trevor Kimm (Anderson, Ind.) and senior outfielder Kyle Norris (Indianapolis, Ind.) with four apiece.
As healthy as the squad's .268 team batting average, 18 RBIs, five extra base hits and .494 slugging percentage was, MU's pitching staff got the season off to a positive start, too. Senior Sean Liedtky (Walkerton, Ind.) and freshman Taylor Kopplin (Westport, Ind.) combined to strike out 11 Tigers in the opener, while sophomore Corey Ferguson (Fort Wayne, Ind.) was touched for only two hits, allowed just one earned run and struck out in a five-and-two-thirds inning start in the nightcap. The underclassman bullpen trio of freshman Landon Stratford (South Bend, Ind.), sophomore Mason Neuman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and freshman Brandon Eck (Fort Wayne, Ind.) shut down DePauw on just two hits over the final three and a third frames.
Both games saw key rallies in the middle innings fuel MU. Locked in a 2-2 tie through two in the opener, the Spartans pushed across six runs in the third with Knepper and Miller each clouting two-run doubles. After DePauw starter Wyatt Spector handcuffed the Black and Gold on just one hit over three innings in game two, the visitors got to him and the home team bullpen for eight runs over the fourth and fifth innings. Ford, Hug, Knepper and Miller each laced run-scoring singles in a five-run fourth with Knepper knocking in two, while Ford and Miller came back an inning later and drilled RBI safeties.
Manchester University continues its 2015 campaign Thursday, March 12. They are scheduled to travel to Taylor University for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
NOTES: Hug picked up right where he left off during the late stages of 2014. His pair of two-hit contests moved personal hit and on-base streaks to 18 games … Norris did the same increasing his strings to nine successive appearances … The Spartans' bullpen effort story didn't just include game two. With Kopplin's four innings of work in the opener, they surrendered just one run on nine hits while striking out eight over seven and a third innings.