Ohio Wesleyan 9, Notre Dame 4

April 27, 2008

Sophomore third baseman Eric McComas (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves) singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and added an RBI single during a 6-run seventh that helped Ohio Wesleyan defeat Notre Dame (Ohio) in non-conference play on Sunday at Littick Field.

The Bishops took a 1-0 lead in the third when sophomore catcher Steve Ruygrok (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) reached on a throwing error by Falcon shortstop Dustin Taulbee, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a single by senior outfielder Joey McDaniel (Dublin/Scioto).

Notre Dame evened the game in the fourth, opening the inning with singles by Nate Campbell, Eric Pelot and Mike Wilsey to push across a run. Jack Sito was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out, but senior righthander Sean Speed (Cincinnati/St. Xavier) got out of the inning without any further damage.

Ohio Wesleyan took the lead for good in the sixth as McDaniel and freshman outfielder Zach Frentsos (Delaware/Hayes) opened the inning with bunt singles, and junior shortstop Logan Hronis (Rocky River/St. Edward) followed with a hard-hit ball to third that went for an infield hit to load the bases. McComas followed with a shot off Falcon third baseman Wilsey that went for a hit, scoring McDaniel, and senior first baseman A.J. Dote (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne) followed with a sacrifice fly to score Frentsos for a 3-1 Bishop lead.

Jeff Burch plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to bring the Falcons within 3-2, but the Bishops erupted for 6 runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game out of reach.

Junior outfielder Matt Rhode (Port Clinton) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and went all the way to third when Falcon pitcher Steve Kovar threw wildly on Ruygrok's sacrifice attempt. One out later, McDaniel singled home Rhode, with Ruygrok moving to third, and Frentsos followed with a sacrifice fly to score Ruygrok. Hronis followed with a single and McComas did likewise, scoring McDaniel, before walks to Dote and Wilkins forced home another run. Freshman outfielder Scott Wise (Delaware/Hayes) capped the inning with a 2-run single to center for a 9-2 Bishop lead.

Notre Dame closed the gap to 9-4 on Sito's 2-run homer in the eighth, but that was as close as the Falcons would come.

McDaniel went 4-for-4 and drove in 2 runs for Ohio Wesleyan, while Hronis was 3-for-4.

Speed pitched the first 8.0 innings, scattering 7 hits, to pick up the win.

Kovar was the starting and losing pitcher for Notre Dame.

Box Score