Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. — Andy McCoppin and his Earlham College baseball teammates accepted a challenge in Sunday's 8-7 win over the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on John Cate Field at McBride Stadium.

With the score tied at 7-7 in the finale of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference three-game series, McCoppin (Middletown, OH, Madison) singled home Ted Williams (Harper Woods, MI, Grosse Pointe North) with the decisive run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"We challenged the team on Saturday," Earlham Head Coach Steve Sakosits said of dropping both games of Saturday's doubleheader with the Engineers. "We felt as if we've had a chance to win our five prior conference games."

"The coaches believe in what we can do," Sakosits added. "The players now need to believe in their abilities."

Williams got the winning rally started with a one-out single. Mark Dye (Munster, IN, Munster) was attempting to sacrifice when his bunt was fielded by Rose-Hulman pitcher Hank Akard. Akard threw the ball away as he tried to get Williams out at second. The error resulted in Williams going to third.

One out later with Dye now at second, McCoppin found a hole for the game-winning hit between the third base line and Rose-Hulman third baseman Andrew Benitez.

"We had opportunities with runners at second and third with one out on Saturday and didn't score," Sakosits said. "Today, we scored in those situations and that's what separated us from losing on Saturday and winning this game."

Rough Start

The Engineers (14-6, 4-2) jumped out to an early 4-0 in the top of the second inning.

"Everything was against us early," Sakosits said "We could have packed our bags and not won. Hopefully, the players can see that we can be on the field with the elite teams in the HCAC and turn the tide of Earlham baseball."

Earlham starting pitcher Caleb Brown (Newark, OH, Granville) worked three innings and gave up four runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Jake Elmlinger (Hamilton, OH, Fairfield) and Zach Lee (Lynn, IN, Randolph Southern) finished the contest on the mound. Elmlinger went four innings giving up a run on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Lee (1-0), who earned his first collegiate victory, worked the final two frames. He surrendered a game-tying homer in the top of the ninth.

"They kept us in the game," Sakosits said. "And offensively, we kept putting pressure on them."

That pressure began in the fifth inning when the Quakers scored three times to cut the deficit to 4-3. Dye led off the inning with a single and Colton Miller (Auburn, IN, Dekalb) followed with a double. Ryan Hayes (New Lebanon, OH, Dixie) then smashed what had to be ruled as a single when the ball hit the field umpire to load the bases.

Ross Yoho (Plainfield, IN, Plainfield) brought home the first run with a single. Taylor Gibson (Cumberland, IN, Mt. Vernon) made it 4-2 with a RBI on a fielder's choice. Ryan McCray (Lexington, KY, Henry Clay) finished the rally with a RBI ground out.

In the sixth, Earlham took a 6-4 lead with three more runs. Tyler Schroeder (Richmond, IN, Richmond) and Williams singled to begin the inning. Dye was called upon to sacrifice bunt, Rose-Hulman pitcher Andrew Oakley couldn't execute the throw to first and he was charged with an error that allowed Schroeder and Williams to score.

With Dye at third as a result of Oakley's miscue, Hayes singled to give the Quakers a two-run advantage.

The Engineers scored in the seventh to close the gap to 6-5, but Earlham answered with a run in the eighth on a single by Yoho.

In the ninth, Rose-Hulman's Donald Stopka hit a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game and set the stage for Earlham's victory in the bottom of the inning.

Earlham (8-11, 1-5) is at Bluffton University for a 9-inning single contest on Tuesday. The HCAC affair gets underway at 4 p.m.

Box Score