RICHMOND, Indiana – The Earlham College baseball team inched closer to the program's first ever Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) regular season title on Tuesday as the Quakers defeated Mount St. Joseph University (MSJ) 10-1 at Randal R. Sadler Stadium.
The Quakers opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Nate Lynch led off the inning by drawing a walk, and after stealing second, senior Eric Elkus singled home Lynch.
Two innings later, the Lions tied the game on a sacrifice fly and threatened to take the lead, but a fielder's choice ended the threat.
After a scoreless third inning for Earlham, senior Cody Krumlauf put the Quakers up 2-1 in the fourth as he singled home sophomore Addison Robertson.
Freshman starter Kyle Gorman set down the Lions in order in the top of the fifth, and the Earlham offense picked up where it left off the fourth in the bottom of the fifth. Junior Kendal Baker and Lynch led off the inning with singles and both advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. After a walk was issued to senior Matt Barger, fellow senior Brennan Laird hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Baker.
Leading 3-1, Robertson singled home Barger and Krumlauf delivered his second and third RBIs of the afternoon on a single up the middle.
Carrying a 6-1 lead, Earlham plated two more runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to put the game away.
Gorman improved to 5-1 on the season including his third straight victory over Mount St. Joseph. Gorman allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out three in six innings of work. Earlham's bullpen did not allow a run over the final three innings while fanning five Lions.
Mike Hilliard took the loss for the Lions, allowing just one earned run and four hits over four innings pitched.
Krumlauf and Robertson led the Quakers' offense as both finished 2-4 with three RBIs. Senior Eric Elkus also had two hits. Earlham, which stolen six bases, had 11 total hits as a team, all of them singles.
MSJ had seven hits as a squad including a 3-3 performance from Roman Rothwell.
Earlham improves to 23-12 overall and 18-6 in the HCAC after its ninth straight conference win. The Quakers, who swept the season series with MSJ for the second consecutive season, are two wins away from clinching at least a share of the program's first HCAC regular season title and hosting rights for the 2017 HCAC Tournament.
The Quakers close out their 2017 regular season with a three-game series against Hanover College on Thursday and Friday of this week.