SCORES: G1 – Hanover 10, Earlham 1 / G2 – Hanover 4, Earlham 3
LOCATION: Hanover, Indiana – K.T. Young Ballpark
RECORDS: Earlham 18-17 / Hanover 19-16
HANOVER, Indiana – Earlham College baseball dropped a pair of games at Hanover College on Sunday, falling to the Panthers by scores of 10-1 and 4-3 at Hanover's K.T. Young Ballpark.
Earlham fell to 18-17 overall and sixth place in the HCAC standings with the two losses, and are seven games back of first-place Transylvania with four games remaining on the schedule. The Quakers are one game back of both Anderson (18-15) and Hanover (19-16) in the battle for the final host berth in the 2021 HCAC Baseball Championship's opening round on May 14-16.
GAME 1
Earlham matched Hanover's one run in the first inning by posting one of its own in the top of the second, when
Brian Pincura reached on a Hanover error at third and eventually crossed on
Easton Embry's single through the left side.
The Panthers broke the 1-1 tie with two runs in the home half of the second, and extended their lead to 6-1 with a three-run uprising in the third around a pair of RBI doubles from Eric Roudebush and Zeke Porta.
Two more runs for Hanover in both the fourth and seventh innings padded the Panthers' lead.
Seven different players accounted for Earlham's seven hits, with
Danny Dopp's double down the left field line to lead off the Earlham eighth producing the Quakers' lone extra-base hit.
Earlham starter
Dillon Fischer went three innings and was charged with the loss, while Hanover starter Eli Copner recorded the complete game victory.
GAME 2
Earlham led the game the right up until the home half of the ninth inning, when Hanover tied the game at 3-3 on Andrew Littlefield's leadoff home run.
Two batters later, Roudebush reached on a single up the middle. Pinch runner Matt Vetor stole second, and was singled home by Cole Sherman for the game-winning run.
The Quakers began the game by scoring in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead.
Austin Hatfield doubled home
Maxwell Fries with two outs in the first inning for the first Earlham run, and
Marc Gendreau pushed
Isaiah Shake across in the second inning with his base hit up the middle to make the score 2-0. Shake got aboard with a single through the right side to open the frame.
Hanover got one run back in the third inning, cutting the Earlham lead to 2-1. The teams traded runs in the eighth to move the score to 3-2 in Earlham's favor, with
Connor Drews coming home on a wild pitch to account for the Quaker run in the top of the frame.
Domanick Michael got the start for the Quakers and went six-and-a-third innings on 53 pitches, scattering eight hits and fanning a pair of Panther batters with no walks in the no-decision outing.
Chance Strickley, who came into the game two batters into the eighth inning, was charged with the loss.
Shake (2-for-4, one run) had the lone multiple-hit performance of the day for the Quakers, with Hatfield's double in the first giving Earlham its only extra-base hit.
Charlie Joyce earned the relief win for the Panthers after pitching the eighth and ninth innings.
NEXT UP:
Earlham baseball closes out the regular season next weekend, starting with a home HCAC doubleheader against Defiance College on Friday, May 7, starting at 5:00 p.m. The Quakers' senior class will be recognized during pre-game ceremonies commencing at approximately 4:40 p.m.
