SCORES: G1 – Earlham 11, Defiance 1 (8 inn.) / G2 – Earlham 8, Defiance 1
LOCATION: Richmond, Indiana – Randal R. Sadler Stadium
RECORDS: Earlham 20-17 / Defiance 6-31

RICHMOND, Indiana – Earlham College baseball gave its chances to host a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament opening round series a huge boost on Friday evening with a doubleheader sweep of Defiance College at Sadler Stadium.

The Quakers won game 1 of the doubleheader, 11-1, in eight innings, and claimed the nightcap by an 8-1 score.

GAME 1
Earlham jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on three hits and two Defiance errors, including an RBI single to right field by Isaiah Shake. The Quakers extended their lead to 5-1 after three innings, following a single run in the second on Danny Dopp's RBI double, and two teams exchanging runs in the third inning.

The Quakers put up three more runs in the fourth. Dopp belted a solo home run to give Earlham a 6-1 advantage, and Brian Pincura plated two more runs with a double to extend the Quakers' lead to 8-1.

Christian Lancianese drove in Pincura on a base hit to right in the sixth for one more Earlham run, then closed the game with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Shake in a two-run eighth inning forcing a premature end to the contest under the 10-run rule.

Senior Joey Gerbus pitched a three-hit complete game gem for the Quakers, allowing just three hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts to improve to 6-1 on the season.

Pincura finished the game with a 4-for-4 ledger at the plate with two runs and two RBI, while Austin Hatfield was 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Dopp, Shake, and Lancianese each had two hits.

GAME 2
Earlham again jumped out to an early lead in game two with a four-run uprising in the second inning, keyed by RBI doubles by both Dopp and Cameron Wissel. Dopp singled home Cameron McCabe in the fourth to put the Quakers in front, 5-0, and Wissel and Gendreau each plated additional Earlham runs in the seventh.

Defiance finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth on Zach Johnson's double down the left field line to score Michael Reese, but Earlham answered in the home half of the frame with Pincura's base hit that pushed pinch runner James Grace across the plate for the Quakers' eighth run of the game.

Earlham starter Nick Carrizales lasted seven innings on the mound and scattered six hits while fanning five Defiance batters in the win. Yellow Jacket starter Lane Good took the loss after yielding six runs, all earned, in six-and-a-third innings of work.

Dopp went 2-for-4 at the plate in game two; his four hits on the day allowed him to tie Earlham's career hits record with 192. His double in game two against Defiance also leaves Dopp one double away from equaling the Earlham career record in that category as well.

NEXT UP:
Earlham baseball will close out its 2021 regular season on Saturday, May 8, when it travels to North Manchester, Indiana, to face Manchester University in an HCAC doubleheader. The twinbill was originally scheduled for Sunday, May 9, but was moved up a day to avoid inclement weather expected on Sunday.