Earlham 4, Ohio Wesleyan 3
Ohio Wesleyan 10, Earlham 8

April 5, 2009

Freshman first baseman Tim Knezovich (Columbus/Briggs) and senior shortstop Logan Hronis (Rocky River/St. Edward) smashed 2-run doubles to highlight a 6-run third inning that helped Ohio Wesleyan defeat Earlham in the nightcap of a North Coast Athletic Conference West Division doubleheader on Sunday in Richmond, Ind.

In the opener, freshman second baseman James DiBiasio (Westlake) doubled in a run to give the Bishops a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh, but the Quakers strung together 4 straight 2-out singles to walk off with the win.

The Bishops took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap as DiBiasio led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored on a double by sophomore outfielder Zach Frentsos (Delaware/Hayes).

In the third, junior catcher Steve Ruygrok (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) singled home a run, Hronis doubled in 2 runs, Knezovich doubled in 2 runs, and sophomore second baseman Josh Gardner (Youngstown/Boardman) singled in a run to extend the Bishop lead to 7-0.

Earlham closed to within 7-2 on a 2-run single by Jake Carr in the bottom of the inning, but the Bishops got those runs back in the fourth as Ruygrok singled, Hronis doubled, and senior third baseman Eric McComas (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves) tripled.

The Quakers loaded the bases in the fourth on an infield single and a pair of McComas errors before a bases-loaded walk to Spencer Roloff and Carr's sacrifice fly narrowed the margin to 9-4.

Frentsos singled in a run in the fifth, giving the Bishops a 10-4 lead.

Earlham closed to within 10-7 on Andrew Morrical's 3-run homer in the sixth, then pushed across a run in the seventh on a pair of singles and Roloff's RBI ground out, but freshman righthander Andrew Cox (Ashville/Teays Valley) stranded the tying run at first base to nail down the save.

Sophomore outfielder Scott Wise (Delaware/Hayes) went 3-for-4 and DiBiasio, Frentsos, Ruygrok, McComas, and Gardner collected 2 hits apiece.

Freshman righthander Kevin Schindler (Mentor) pitched the first 5.0 innings, allowing 5 hits and striking out 7 while walking 2, to collect the win.

Adam Painter was the starting and losing pitcher for Earlham.

In the opener, the Quakers took a 1-0 lead on Tyler Schroeder's RBI single in the second.

Ohio Wesleyan came back with a run in the fourth as Ruygrok reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second and third on wild pitches, and scored on an error by Morrical.

Earlham re-took the lead in the fifth when Carr reached on a fielder's choice, took second on a balk, and scored on Morrical's double.

The Bishops answered in the sixth when Ruygrok was hit by a pitch, moved to third on Hronis's single, and scored on McComas's infield grounder.

In the seventh, sophomore outfielder Eric Livingston (Delaware/Hayes) led off with a single and continued to second on Earlham rightfielder Roloff's error on the play. After Gardner moved Livingston to third with a sacrifice, DiBiasio doubled to center to plate Livingston with the go-ahead run.

Roloff led off the bottom of the seventh by reaching base on a passed ball on a third strike, but Bishop catcher Ruygrok redeemed himself by throwing out Roloff trying to steal second. Carr grounded out for the second out, but Morrical kept the Quakers in the game with a single, and Alex Anderson followed with a single to send Morrical to third. Painter singled to left, scoring Morrical with the tying run and chasing freshman righthander Robbie Shane (Hilliard/Bishop Ready), but Tilmon Clark greeted Cox with a single to right, scoring Anderson with the game-winning run.

The win was Earlham's first over Ohio Wesleyan in baseball. The Bishops won the first 58 games in the series, which dates back to 1990, Earlham's first season as a member of the NCAC.

DiBiasio had 2 hits for the Bishops.

Livingston pitched the first 5.0 innings, allowing 8 hits and striking out 3 while walking 1. Shane came on in the sixth and was charged with the loss.

Anderson scattered 6 hits in pitching the complete game for Earlham.

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2