SCORES: Transylvania 12, Earlham 4
LOCATION: Lexington, Kentucky – Kentucky Proud Park
RECORDS: Earlham 24-19 / Transylvania 30-10

LEXINGTON, Kentucky – The Earlham College bats were unable to solve the Transylvania University pitching in 12-4 loss to the Pioneers on Friday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park, in a winners' bracket game of the 2021 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament.

Earlham (24-19) will play an elimination game on Saturday, May 22, at 10:30 a.m. against the winner of Friday night's elimination game between Anderson University and Bluffton University.

After yielding three runs to the Pioneers in the top of the first inning, the Quakers rallied with a pair of runs. Danny Dopp laced a one-out double down the first base line, as the Earlham career hits leaders became the first Earlham player to reach the 200 career hits mark. Dopp crossed on Austin Hatfield's double to left-center, and two batters later Hatfield came home on Maxwell Fries' double down the third base line to cut the Transy lead to 3-2.

After a scoreless second inning, the Pioneers had a four-run uprising in the third inning keyed by Walter Munday's three-run double into left-center field.

The Quakers threatened to answer once more in the third with runners aboard on back-to-back two-out hits by Hatfield and Brian Pincura, but a fly out to left ended the Earlham threat.

From there, Earlham was held hitless over the next four innings while Transylvania tacked on two more runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The Quakers finally broke the Pioneer hex in the eighth with two runs on three hits, including an RBI single by Marc Gendreau.

The Quakers finished the day with nine hits, led by Hatfield and Pincura with two each.

Offensively, Transylvania finished with 19 hits with four players charting three hits each. Munday and Riley Willbur each had three RBI for the Pioneers.

Earlham starter Nick Carrizales took the loss; he allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits over three-and-a-third innings of work with two strikeouts. Dillon Fischer came on the fourth and Chance Strickley pitched the eighth and ninth innings for the Quakers.

Collin Johnson earned the win for the Pioneers after scattering five Quaker hits and allowing two earned runs over five innings on the mound.