Game one box

Game two box

RICHMOND, Ind. — The Earlham College baseball team celebrated Senior Day at McBride Stadium as the Quakers split a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader with Denison University.

Earlham won the first NCAC West Division game 12-11 and dropped the second 26-11.

Sophomore Corey Murray (Richmond, IN/Richmond) knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh of the opener on a fielder's choice.

The Quakers trailed 11-9 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Tilmon Clark (Winchester, IN/Winchester) started off the frame with an infield single and then first-year Tyler Schroeder (Richmond, IN/Richmond) walked.

First-year Spencer Roloff (Martinsville, IN/Mooresville) was called on to sacrifice, but Denison pitcher Aidan Lucas threw the ball wide of first to score Clark.

With runners at second and third, senior Alex Anderson (Logansport, IN/Logansport) grounded out to tie the game with Schroeder scoring. Lucas then intentionally walked junior Jake Carr (Richmond, IN/Richmond) and sophomore Andrew Morrical (Summitville, IN/Madison-Grant) to load the bases for Murray.

Murray's grounder back to the mound went just far enough to allow Roloff to score the winning run.

Early lead

Morrical had a three-run homer in the first to give the Quakers an early 3-0 advantage. Roloff had a two-run double in the second to make it 5-0, while the Quakers went on top by six run with an unearned tally in the third inning.

Denison (18-18, 8-8) bounced back to tie the contest at 6-6 with six runs in its half of the fourth inning. The Big Red took a 7-6 lead one frame later. Schroeder's run-scoring single in the bottom of the fifth tied the game again at 7-7.

The Big Red went ahead with three runs in the sixth, but Morrical responded with a double that scored two runs to make it 10-9 in the bottom of the inning. Denison scored in the top of the seventh to take a two-run lead to set the stage for the winning comeback.  

Anderson led the Quakers with three hits, while Carr and Morrical added two hits each. First-year Andy Jackson (Cocoa, FL/Merritt Christian) worked the last 1? innings to get the win.

Sophomore Adam Painter (Ft. Wayne, IN/Snider) started the contest on the mound for the Quakers before being relieved by senior Corey Gareri (Thorntown, IN/Western Boone) and Jackson (1-1).

Game two

The second contest was a slugfest as the two teams produced 37 runs on 37 hits. Denison led 11-10 after three innings, but the Big Red scored six times in the fourth to take control of the contest.

Morrical led the Quakers with three hits, while knocking in five runs. Carr added a pair of hits. Senior Randy Kerns (West Manchester, OH/National Trail) started for the Quakers and took the loss giving him a 4-4 mark on the season.

The Quakers are now 14-20 overall and 3-11 in the NCAC. The 14 wins are the most by the Quakers since 1987, when they had 15 victories. Earlham is at Wabash College on Sunday for another NCAC twinbill starting at 1 p.m.

The seniors

Anderson, Clark, Gareri, Kerns and classmates Danny Bridge (Logansport, IN/Lewis Cass), Kevin Greve (Farmersburg, IN/North Central), Shingo Katoh (Konanshi, Japan/International) Ben Marschand (Galveston, IN/Lewis Cass) and Ben Schuttish (San Francisco, CA/Thurgood Marshall) were all honored in pre-game ceremonies for their contributions to Earlham baseball.

The record book

As the season comes to an end in the next week several players have already put themselves in the Earlham record book (since 1974) or are getting close to some marks.

Carr became the all-time leader in doubles when he hit one in the second game. He now has 32, which surpassed former teammate Eric Sturgeon (2005-08). Carr already owns the single-season mark with 16 this spring.

Carr is tied for another single-season mark, while being one away in another. He has 35 runs scored, which equals the standard set by Morrical last year. With 51 hits, Carr needs one more to tie Sean O'Reilley (2000-03) for the record in one year.

Morrical knocked in 10 runs on Saturday, giving him 38 RBI on the season to pass Bobby Ebright's (1995-97) record of 36 established in 1995.