RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College baseball team split a doubleheader with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday, winning game one 11-2 and falling 5-3 in game two in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) doubleheader at Sadler Stadium.
In the game one victory, Earlham used RBI-singles from senior Brandon Smalling to score a run in both the first and the third inning. After a sacrifice fly from the Engineers in the top of the fourth, the Quakers tallied four runs on five hits including RBI-singles from junior Nate Lynch, Smalling, and sophomore Joe Pipher.
Sophomore Matt Mathies, who came in in relief in the fourth, retired the Engineers in order in the fifth. Earlham then broke the game wide open with a four-run fifth inning on five hits to take a 10-1 advantage.
Senior Thomas Rea would extend the Quakers' lead to 10 runs with a sacrifice fly scoring junior Matt Barger in the seventh. The Engineers scored the game's last run in the top of the ninth.
Earlham tallied 20 hits as a team compared to six for Rose-Hulman. Smalling led the way individually going 5-5 with four RBIs. Junior Brennan Laird added 3-4 with two triples, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Pipher and Barger also finished with three-hit games.
Zac Hull led the Engineers with a 2-2 game and one run scored.
Mathies earned the victory, scattering three hits and striking out three in five innings. Andrew Stull fell to 1-2 allowing six earned runs and 12 hits in 3.1 innings.
In the game two loss, Rose-Hulman struck for two runs in the second on a two-RBI double from Hull. The Engineers would add two runs over the next two innings to take a 4-0 lead. The Quakers would battle back to within two on an RBI-single from junior Cody Krumlauf in the fourth and an RBI-double from Barger in the fifth.
Rose-Hulman hit a solo home run to go up 5-3 in the eighth. Once again, Earlham got within a single run as Smalling delivered yet another RBI-single. Rose-Hulman got out of a two-on, one-out jam with consecutive strikeouts.
Pipher, Laird, and Barger finished with two hit games. David Burnside led the Engineers with three hits and three runs scored.
John Cornett took the loss allowing four earned runs and six hits in 3.1 innings. Junior Dalton Carter came in relief and allowed one run in 4.2 innings.
The Quakers (11-4, 2-2 HCAC) continue the HCAC slate with a 4:15 game at Bluffton on Tuesday.