RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College baseball team continued opening weekend with a pair of wins over Olivet on Monday afternoon in Sadler Stadium.
GAME ONE: EARLHAM 11 OLIVET 6
Garret Odey made his first start for the Quakers to kick off the day, and threw 4.2 innings with three earned runs and seven strikeouts.
Christopher Snider earned his second win of the weekend with 2.1 innings tossed, one earned run, and three strikeouts.
Offensively,
Mitchell Roether went 3-3 with a double, a home run, and five RBI with three runs scored.
Noah Rosato scored two hits with a homer, a double and two RBI. Reece Zontz and
Jonathan Jimenez both recorded two hits with one triple and a run scored.
With two outs and runners on the corners in the first inning, the Quakers committed an error to score two unearned runs. The Comets added two more runs with a pair of two-out triples in the third inning.
Mac Moore hit an RBI-single in the bottom of the second to bring Roether home for the first Quaker hit of the game. Moore went 5-5 on his first five at-bats of the season.
Olivet put two runners on base via hit-by-pitch to start the bottom of the fourth inning, and Roether brought them both home with a two-run double to the right-field corner. Rosato then scored two more runs with an opposite-way home run over the end of the Maroon Monster to give the Quakers a 5-4 lead.
Olivet got a two-out run with an outfield single in the top of the fifth, but the Quaker pitching staff shut out the visitors for the final two innings.
Jimenez hit a leadoff triple in the bottom of the fifth, and came home on a deep center field homer by Roether. Zontz brought
Brendon Gibson home as a pinch runner with a triple, and forced a pitching change for the Comets before
Max Firestine earned his first collegiate RBI with a single to center field.
The Quakers tacked on the final run in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI-single by Roether.
GAME TWO: EARLHAM 17 OLIVET 5
Making his first collegiate start,
Cayman Huntsman threw three innings with four strikeouts and five earned runs on eight hits.
Casey Blevins picked up his first collegiate win with three innings pitched, five strikeouts and three hits.
Braeden Lewis closed the game out with three straight outs in the seventh.
Rosate went 4-5 with two doubles, five RBI and two runs scored. Jimenez recorded three extra-base hits with four runs scored.
Quin Adelson went 2-3 with four RBI and three runs scored. Zonts had another multi-hit game with two doubles.
Following a leadoff walk, Jimenez went from first to home on a double by Jeffries down the left field line. Adelson then hit an RBI single to put the Quakers up 2-0 in the first. Later in the inning, Roether and Rosato had back-to-back 390-foot flyouts to the deepest section of the ballpark.
The Comets led off the second inning with an extra-base hit, but Zonts and
Noah Wagster combined for a fantastic relay to give Adelson a chance at a tag at third base to score the first out. After a pair of hits later in the frame, Olivet scored its first run of the contest.
The Comets scored a leadoff single in the third, and capitalized with a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right field. Olivet tacked on another run with a single later in the frame.
The Quakers retook the lead in the bottom of the third with four runs on four hits. Jimenez led off the inning with a double to right field, and advanced to third on Jeffries who hustled out a hit on a bunt attempt. Adelson brought both runners home with a single up the middle. Rosato singled down the right field line to score Adelson, but the Comets got Roether out trying to stretch to third. Earlham then walked the bases full, and scored on a sacrifice bunt by
Nate Whetstine.
More runs came in the bottom of the fourth inning after another leadoff double by Jimenez. With the bases loaded and no outs, Roether hit a two-run single to put the Quakers up 8-5. Rosato then added a run with an RBI-single to left field. Zonts brought in the final run of the inning with an RBI-groundout to the second baseman.
A Rosato double brought in a run in the bottom of the fifth inning after a third straight leadoff-hit by Jimenez. The Quakers added six more runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth, earning four walks in the frame.
The Quakers host Kalamazoo University for a three-game series next weekend in Sadler Stadium. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for noon.
