RICHMOND, Indiana – Back-to-back five-run innings to open the game provided Earlham College baseball with all the offense it would need in a 12-9 victory over visiting Olivet College, in Saturday's first game of the teams' three-game series at Sadler Stadium.

SCORE: Earlham 12, Olivet College 9
LOCATION: Richmond, Ind. – Sadler Stadium
RECORDS: Earlham 3-1 / Olivet College 0-1

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Earlham put up five runs in the first inning on two hits and a pair of Olivet errors, with Jeordan Kuderer plating a pair of runs on a single. The Quakers plated five more runs in the second, with another two-run base hit from Kuderer keying the inning. Andrew Bradley and Austin Hatfield also had RBI singles in the frame.

Olivet got on the scoreboard with single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings, with Earlham adding additional runs in the fifth and sixth, leaving the Quakers with a 12-3 lead after seven complete.

The Comets started making a game of it with a four-run uprising in the eighth inning on three hits, a passed ball, a wild pitch, a walk, and a two-run error by the Quaker left fielder. Olivet added two more runs in the ninth, but the Quakers finished off the win with a strikeout of Noah McMinn with the tying run on deck.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Kuderer led Earlham at the plate with a 3-for-3 effort and five runs batted in, while Isaiah Shake, Max Fries, and Hatfield all finishing with two hits. Shake also crossed the plate for three runs during the game.

Starter Kyle Gorman fanned seven Comet batters over six innings of work to earn his first win of the season.

Olivet's Brandon Settles went 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs and three RBI to lead the Comets. Starter Hunter Henson was tagged with the loss after yielding 10 runs, five earned, on six hits in one-and-a-third innings on the mound.

NEXT UP:

Earlham and Olivet will conclude their three-game non-conference set with a doubleheader on Sunday, March 1, starting at 11:00 a.m.