ANDERSON, IND. – Junior first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.), sophomore third baseman Hunter Lane (Nappanee, Ind.) and sophomore designated hitter Lucas Gramman (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) each compiled multiple-hit efforts to lead Manchester University Tuesday, April 19.
Szarenski rapped three singles and drove in a run for his team-leading 15th multiple-safety game of the season, and Lane and Gramman ended with two hits apiece as part of a 10-hit attack for the Spartans (16-13 overall, 10-6 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) at Anderson University's Don Brandon Field. The offensive numbers supported a spectacular starting pitching effort from junior Cory Ferguson (Fort Wayne, Ind.). He locked up the host Ravens (10-17 overall, 7-8 HCAC) on five hits while not surrendering an earned run and striking out four over seven frames in route to the visitors' 4-1 road victory.
After Ferguson and AU starter Cameron Dotson kept the crowd on the edge of their seats with a good old-fashioned pitcher's duel for four frames, the Black and Gold offense got to Dotson in the fifth. Senior shortstop Sean Knepper (Bremen, Ind.), rolling his lengthy on-base skein to 36 games, drilled a two-run double, plating Gramman and freshman second baseman Christian Smith (Fortville, Ind.), and Szarenski followed a batter later with a run-scoring single that scored sophomore left fielder Eric Knepper (Bremen, Ind.) for a 3-0 edge. The home side answered with an unearned tally in the fifth, but Lane laced an RBI double in the seventh set the score to its eventual final.
MU, tied with Transylvania University for third and just a half-game behind Earlham College for second on the loop standings, hosts a pivotal weekend league set Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, as the Pioneers of TU visit Gratz Field. First pitch times are 4:15 p.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Saturday.
NOTES: Sophomore Taylor Kopplin (Westport, Ind.) came out of the bullpen to lend a hand towards Ferguson's second win of the year and seventh of his career. Kopplin's first save of 2016 and fourth of his career featured two strikeouts, as the sophomore faced the minimum … The win moved the Spartans' slight advantage against their perennial conference rivals to 17-15 in recent history. The two sides wrap up the regular season series Tuesday, May 3, at Anderson.