RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College baseball team battled back from a four-run deficit to take a 7-5 advantage, but Rose-Hulman added three runs in the seventh and edged the Quakers 8-7 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) action at Sadler Stadium on Friday.
The game appeared to be a pitchers dual in the early stages as junior Howie Smith matched Karson Nixon, the reigning HCAC Most Valuable Pitcher, through three scoreless innings.
Rose-Hulman's Donnie Waters broke the game open in the fourth, hitting a grand slam over the right field wall.
Trailing 4-0, the Quakers responded by batting around in the fourth including five hits that plated four runs, tying the score 4-4. Sophomore Joe Pipher delivered a two-RBI double down the left field line to score the first two Earlham runs in the inning. Senior Ethan Bailey and junior Nate Lynch also tallied RBI singles in the frame.
The Fightin' Engineers regained the lead in the fifth on one hit and two Quaker errors. Earlham got out of the bases loaded threat when Smith induced a double play.
Earlham, trailing 5-4, rallied once again with three runs in the sixth. Pipher and junior Matt Barger both singled, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Lynch followed with an RBI-single to right field, and an error from the Engineers on the play allowed Barger to score from first. Yet another Rose-Hulman error allowed Lynch to score on the following at bat.
Rose-Hulman, which trailed, 7-5, for the first time in the game, added three runs of its own in the seventh to regain an 8-7 advantage.
The Quakers would get runners on base in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, but failed to score.
Sophomore Jonathan Hicks took the loss, allowing one earned run in two innings pitched. Nixon earned the victory despite allowing five earned runs and 11 hits in seven innings of work.
Pipher and Lynch led the way for the Quakers going 3-5 with two RBIs each. Bailey and Barger also had multi-hit contests.
Waters led the Rose-Hulman attack going 1-5 with a home run and 5 RBIs.
Earlham and Rose-Hulman will finish the series with a doubleheader at Sadler Stadium tomorrow (Saturday). First pitch is scheduled for noon.