Ohio Wesleyan 9, Denison 5
Ohio Wesleyan 13, Denison 11

April 11, 2009

Senior third baseman Eric McComas (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves) slammed a 3-run homer that broke a 10-10 tie and put Ohio Wesleyan ahead to stay as the Bishops completed a sweep of a North Coast Athletic Conference West Division doubleheader from Denison on Saturday at Littick Field.

In the opener, senior shortstop Logan Hronis (Rocky River/St. Edward), junior catcher Steve Ruygrok (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek), and sophomore outfielder Eric Livingston (Delaware/Hayes) smashed homers to power the Bishops to the win.

The Bishops took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener when Hronis led off the second inning with a shot to left center.

Denison evened the game on back-to-back doubles by Danny Pritz and Justin Held, but the Bishops answered in the bottom of the inning as Livingston led off with a double, moved to third when Big Red catcher Alex Horn threw wildly on a pickoff attempt, and scored on a single by sophomore outfielder Scott Wise (Delaware/Hayes).

Ruygrok crushed a one-out homer in the fourth, and the Bishops added 3 more runs in the frame with the help of a pair of Denison errors.

Denison cut the deficit to 6-3 in the top of the fifth, bunching together 3 hits, a bases-loaded walk to Held, and a run-scoring fielder's choice, but Ohio Wesleyan got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning as Wise led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice, and scored on Hronis's sacrifice fly.

Denison's Andy Johnson and Livingston traded 2-run homers in the sixth to account for the 9-5 final.

Junior righthander Matthew Struble (Defiance/Edon) pitched the first 5.2 innings, striking out 6 and walking 3, to collect the win. Freshman righthander Robbie Shane (Hilliard/Bishop Ready), who worked out of a 2-on, 2-out jam in the sixth, was credited with a save.

Nick Smith worked the complete game for Denison.

In the nightcap, Aidan Lucas staked the Big Red to a 3-0 lead with a 3-run homer in the top of the first inning.

The Bishops closed to within 3-2 without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the inning, drawing a pair of walks and taking advantage of a pair of Denison errors, but Denison got one of those runs back in the top of the second.

Freshman second baseman James DiBiasio (Westlake) tied the game at 4-4 with a 2-run shot down the rightfield line in the bottom of the second.

In the third, Denison took the lead on Kevin Teague's RBI single only to see the Bishops tie the game at 5-5 on Livingston's RBI single.

That pattern repeated itself in the fourth. Denison pushed across 4 runs, with Lucas delivering a 2-run single and Horn and Teague each plating a run, and the Bishops countering in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Zach Frentsos (Delaware/Hayes), a 2-run homer off the bat of Hronis, and an RBI single by Wise.

Denison once again took the lead in the fifth, this time on Held's sacrifice fly.

Ohio Wesleyan tied the game in the bottom of the inning as sophomore second baseman Josh Gardner (Youngstown/Boardman) led off with a single, moved to second on DiBiasio's sacrifice, and scored on Frentsos's double. After Ruygrok was hit by a pitch, McComas sent a shot over the centerfield fence to put the Bishops ahead to stay.

The Big Red loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth, with a run scoring as Johnson grounded into a double play, but freshman righthander Andrew Cox (Ashville/Teays Valley) got the third out without any further incident.

McComas drove in 4 runs in the game, while DiBiasio and Frentsos each had 2 hits and 2 RBI.

Freshman lefthander Mason Farr (West Lafayette, Ind.) worked the first 3-plus innings for Ohio Wesleyan. Senior righthander Greg Vasami (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Rye Neck) pitched the fourth and Cox worked the final 3.0 innings.

Tyler Nicholson was charged with the loss for Denison.

Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2