RICHMOND, Ind. — About 15 minutes after Friday's Earlham College 7-6 baseball victory over Hanover College, the Quakers found out what they really wanted to know.

As a result of Bluffton University's 3-2 loss in 12 innings at Transylvania University, the Quakers qualified for next week's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
"Randy Sadler was on his phone and let us know," Earlham Head Coach Steve Sakosits said. "It is different finding out via text."

It didn't matter how they found out. The players celebrated as they worked on the field.

The outcome of the Bluffton game became important because of a walk-off hit by Earlham's Thomas Rea in Randal R. Sadler Stadium.

"We needed that big hit," Sakosits said. "Otherwise, we could have been waiting until Saturday. It was huge. That's all you can ask for as a hitter. You want to be up there with the game on the line."

With the score tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth, Eric Elkus led off with a single. Cody Krumlauf moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt.

Devin Spurgon was intentionally walked. Nate Lynch was then put in to run for Elkus at second base. After an out, Rea made the Earlham fans happy with a single to left field to give the Quakers the win.

Earlham is now 26-10 overall and 15-9 in the conference. The Quakers remain in fourth place as all of the teams above them in the standings who played on Friday won.

The 26th victory also ties the Earlham record for most wins in a season with the 1970 squad that went 26-7 and won the Hoosier Collegiate Conference championship.

This is the first time the Quakers have qualified for the HCAC Tournament since joining the league in the 2011 season. The last time the Quakers made the post-season was during the 1994-95 seasons in the 8-team North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. Earlham's most recent title in baseball was in 1989 when the Quakers claimed the College Athletic Conference crown.

Falling Behind

Hanover (15-18, 11-14) scored twice in the first inning against Earlham starter Howie Smith.

The Quakers picked up a run in the second when Matt Barger reached on a fielder's choice that made it 2-1.

Brennan Laird tied the game at 2-2 in the third with a RBI double. Krumlauf had an infield single that produced a run to put the Quakers on top 3-2.

The Panthers quickly rallied in the top of the fourth to grab a 5-3 advantage.

In the fifth, the Quakers picked up an unearned run before Barger hit a RBI double to tie it at 5-5.

The lead didn't last as Hanover added a run in the sixth.

Earlham tied the game again in the seventh when Spurgon drove in a run with a triple to set up Rea's game-winner two innings later.

Smith left with two outs in the sixth after giving up six runs on eight hits with six strikeout. Garrett York worked two scoreless innings before giving way to Matt Brankle with one out remaining in the eighth.

Brankle (5-4) tossed a scoreless ninth to earn the victory.

Elkus led the Quakers with three hits, while Laird had a pair of hits. Laird also received his 34th walk of the spring in the first inning to set a school record in that category. The old mark of 33 was established by Kyle Stauffer in 2009.

Earlham and Hanover end the regular season on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon. Four players for the Quakers will be honored prior to the start of the opener on Senior Day.
 
"This is the first recruiting class I had as a head coach," Sakosits said of Brankle, York, Josh Parr and Nate Hube. "These guys have all developed into great players."