Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DEFIANCE, Ohio — The Earlham College baseball team pulled off a doubleheader sweep of Defiance College on Saturday with a come-from-behind win in the second contest.

The Quakers won the opener of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference affair 5-1 and then followed with a 4-3 victory.

"Our players fought hard," Earlham Head Coach Steve Sakosits said. "They are learning how to win."

An unearned run in the ninth was the difference in the second game. Chance Von Holle (Morrow, OH, Little Miami) singled to begin the inning and he went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Schroeder (Richmond, IN, Richmond).

Andrew Morrical (Summitville, IN, Madison-Grant) reached on an error by Defiance shortstop Bryn Lehman, which allowed VonHolle to score the winning run.

Zach Lee (Lynn, IN, Randolph Southern) worked the final three innings to earn the victory. Lee (2-2) gave up a pair of hits and had two strikeouts.

Coming Back

Defiance grabbed an early 1-0 in the second contest with a first-inning run, but the Quakers tied the game with an unearned run in the second. With Ryan Hayes (New Lebanon, OH, Dixie) at third and Ross Yoho (Plainfield, IN, Plainfield) on first, Yoho was thrown attempting to steal second, which allowed Hayes to score from third.

Earlham took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Hayes doubled to begin the inning. Chris Miller (Topeka, IN, Westview) reached first on an error as he was trying to execute a sarifice bunt. Hayes went to third on the play. Miller stole second and Yoho walked to load the bases. Hayes then scored as Ryan McCray (Lexington, KY, Henry Clay) grounded into a double play.

The Yellow Jackets (5-19, 1-8) went back on top with a pair of runs in the sixth before the Quakers were able to tie the game again with a run in the seventh.

With one out, Schroeder walked and stole second. A ground out by Morrical moved Schroeder to third and he eventually scored on an infield single by Ted Williams (Harper Woods, MI, Grosse Pointe North), which set the stage for the Quakers to win it in the ninth.

Caleb Brown (Newark, OH, Granville) started on the mound for the Quakers. He gave up a run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Jake Elmlinger (Hamilton, OH, Fairfield) pitched the sixth inning and he surrendered a pair of runs on a hit with two walks and one strikeout.

Game One

Adam Painter (Ft. Wayne, IN, Snider) tossed a complete game to win the opener. Painter (4-3), who now has an Earlham record 16 career wins, went seven innings and gave up an unearned run on five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

In the first inning, Morrical singled with one out. Williams followed with a RBI double to score Morrical. One out later, Williams scored on a single by Hayes.

Schroeder walked to begin the top of the third inning as the Quakers build a 3-0 advantage. He stole second and advanced to third on an error on the throw by the Defiance catcher. A sacrifice fly by Morrical scored Schroeder.

The Quakers got some help with another Defiance error to go on top 4-0 in the fifth. Taylor Gibson (Cumberland, IN, Mt. Vernon) received a one-out walk to start the rally. Schroeder singled and Gibson made it to third. Schroeder stole second base and the Defiance catcher's error allowed Gibson to score.

Earlham made it 5-0 in the sixth. Mark Dye (Munster, IN, Munster) walked and two outs later he advanced to second with a stolen base. Yoho singled and Dye went to third. McCray singled home Dye to give the Quakers a five-run lead.

Defiance scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh against Painter.

The victory ensured that Earlham would win the three-game conference series, which has not been done since 2000 when the Quakers beat Wabash College to go 2-1 in a North Coast Athletic Conference series. The last time the Quakers swept a three-game set in conference play was in 1993 at NCAC foe Oberlin College.  

"We are going to go in there and have a chance to sweep," said Sakosits, who served as an interim head coach at Defiance before coming to Earlham. "We're in the driver's seat right now."

"I've enjoyed coming back here and it means a lot to me," Sakosits added.

The Quakers (10-12, 3-6) finish their three-games series at Defiance on Sunday with a 9-inning contest at noon.

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score