GRANVILLE, Ohio (May 6, 2023) – Backed by a no-hitter from Charlie Fleming and a 4-for-4 effort from Eric Colaco, the No. 11 Denison University baseball team earned a 14-0 win in game one over Waynesburg University on Saturday at the Big Red Baseball Field. However, in game two, the Big Red fell 9-4 in what was their final home game of the regular season.
Game 1 (Denison 14, Waynesburg 0):
Fleming (9-1) recorded 15 straight outs after walking the first batter of the game and worked around back-to-back walks to start off the sixth inning as he got a 6-4-3 double play followed by a flyout to right field.
In the end, Fleming finished with seven 1-2-3 innings and struck out 10 batters en route to his first-career no-hitter.
It was the third no-hitter in program history, joining Cam Cowden (April 24, 2004) and Drew Shamrock (April 16, 2005).
At the plate for the Big Red, Colaco led off the bottom of the first inning with a first-pitch triple to left center field and scored on the ensuing RBI-groundout to shortstop by Charlie Glennon.
Noah Leib then delivered a first-pitch triple himself into the right center field gap and scored on the ensuing RBI-single up the middle by Ari Fierer to make it a 2-0 start for the Big Red after the first inning.
Colaco again made his impact on the game in the third inning, singling with one out, stealing second base, advancing to third on a groundout and then scoring on a two-out RBI-single by Leib.
Denison doubled its lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-run double down the left field line by Max Fishbein followed by a two-out RBI-single through the right side by Colaco to make it 6-0 Big Red.
In the end, Colaco finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored, a double and a triple while Leib was 4-for-5 and Fishbein was 2-for-4.
Both Leib and Fishbein added two runs and two RBI's as well while Connor Miller added a three-run double.
Game 2 (Denison 4, Waynesburg 9):
The Yellow Jackets scored first with two runs in the second inning while Denison stranded a leadoff double by Colin Ravin in the third inning.
Then after four more runs for Waynesburg in the top of the fourth inning, Denison was unable to do anything with walks by Jake Welsch and Josh Bohn in the bottom half.
After the first 1-2-3 inning by the Big Red pitching staff in the top of the fifth inning, courtesy of Ryan Starr, Denison again left two runners on in the bottom half after a hit by pitch by Alex Vasquez and a walk by Matt McClements to start the inning.
Finally, with Denison facing a 7-0 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, a one-out double to right center field by Bohn led to the first three runs of the game for the Big Red, the last of which came on a triple to right field by McClements.
Unfortunately, a two-run home run for the Yellow Jackets in the top of the seventh inning made it 9-3.
Jacob Pendergraft came in to pitch following the home run and recorded four straight outs, and then Michael Gray had to get a flyout to right field to leave the bases loaded in the top of the eighth before striking out the side in the ninth.
Denison added an RBI-single by Colaco in the ninth inning, but in the end, the Big Red were doubled up in the hit column (12-6).
Waynesburg starting pitcher, Ethan Erhard, pitched all nine innings allowing six hits, four total runs, three earned runs, five walks and four strikeouts, all while throwing over 140 total pitches.
Records: It was the first-ever matchup between Denison (29-8 overall) and Waynesburg (14-24).
Next Up: Denison will wrap up the regular season with North Coast Athletic Conference action on the road at Oberlin College starting at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, all in an attempt to go a perfect 16-0 this season in conference play.