TERRE HAUTE, Indiana – The Earlham College baseball team used a 7-run third inning to defeat Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 11-5 and win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) series on Saturday.

For the first time in the series, the Fightin' Engineers scored first, plating two runs in the bottom of the second inning.

The Quakers did not wait long to answer, however, putting up a 7-spot in the third inning. Junior Ian Bach led off the inning with a double, and after a strikeout, senior Nate Lynch singled home Bach for the first run of the game. Seniors Eric Elkus and Cody Krumlauf also tallied RBI-hits in the inning. In total, Earlham had six hits and had 11 batters come up to the plate in the inning.

Earlham added two more runs in the fourth on a stolen base from senior Matt Barger and a sacrifice fly from freshman Danny Dopp to put the game out of reach.

Freshman Jordan Christian improved to 2-0 on the season with the win, pitching 7.2 innings and allowing four earned runs. Jonathan Banks fell to 1-1 for Rose-Hulman, allowing six earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched.

Barger and Lynch each had three hits for the Quakers while Elkus went 2-3 with three RBIs and three walks. The Quakers were successful on the base paths stealing nine bases. Lynch and senior Brennan Laird both swiped three bases.

The Quakers improve to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in HCAC competition with the win. Earlham will continue conference play by hosting Bluffton University at Sadler Stadium on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.