SCORES: G1 – Earlham 4, Mount St. Joseph 3 / G2 – Earlham 9, Mount St. Joseph 1
LOCATION: Richmond, Ind. – Sadler Stadium
RECORDS: Earlham 2-0 / Mount St. Joseph 0-2

RICHMOND, Indiana – Earlham College baseball opened its 2021 season at home by taking both ends of a doubleheader off visiting Mount St. Joseph University, Saturday afternoon at Sadler Stadium. The Quakers posted a 4-3 come-from-behind victory in game 1, and completed the sweep with a 9-1 triumph in game 2.

The wins marked the second consecutive season, and third time in four seasons, that Earlham has opened the season with a pair of victories.

GAME 1
Earlham was roughed up for three runs on three hits, an error, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk in a 26-minute, 41-pitch top of the first inning, with two runs crossing for Mount St. Joseph on a two-out Carter Owen single up the middle.

After that, the Quakers settled in and kept a lid on the Lions the rest of the way. Starter Joey Gerbus retired the side in three of his six innings on the hill, allowing just two hits after the first inning and finishing with five strikeouts.

Earlham manufactured one run in the fifth, taking advantage of an MSJ error that allowed leadoff batter Brian Pincura to get aboard.

The Quakers added three runs in the seventh to gain the lead, with singles by Cameron McCabe and Nathan Lancianese getting runners aboard. A double-steal and a wild pitch allowed the runners to advance with McCabe eventually scoring. Marc Gendreau drew a walk to keep the rally going, and senior Danny Dopp's double down the left field line scored Lancianese and Gendreau with the game-tying and go-ahead runs.

Chance Strickley pitched the seventh and eighth innings for the Quakers, while Domanick Michael came on in the ninth to close out the game.

GAME 2
Earlham jumped all over Mount St. Joseph early in game two, putting up two runs in the second inning and two more in the third in what ended as a rout for the Quakers.

Isaiah Shake plated both Earlham runs in the second on a single to short, while Cameron Wissel doubled into left field to score one of the two Quaker runs in the third.

The Lions' only run of the game crossed in the top of the fifth, after Matt Brankamp reached on a two-base Earlham error. Brankamp advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Patrick Murray's ground out to second base.

Another Wissel double and a Christian Lancianese triple accounted drove in two of Earlham's four runs in the bottom of the fifth, with Lancianese eventually scoring on a Gendreau single. Singles from Dopp and Austin Hatfield brought in the remaining two Earlham runs of the frame, resulting in the Quakers taking an 8-1 lead.

Wissel reached on a one-out single in the sixth, and scored two batters later on a Lancianese single to left.

Earlham had plenty of chances to further pad its lead against Mount St. Joseph; the Quakers finished game two with 15 runners left on base while the Lions had 10 ducks left on the pond.

Earlham starter Justin Dillhoff lasted seven innings and fanned seven MSJ batters in his collegiate debut. Lions starter Brandon Shelton was tagged with the loss for his four-and-a-third innings of work.

NEXT UP:
Earlham will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday, March 7, for a doubleheader at Transylvania University. The first game of the doubleheader will start at 12:00 p.m.