RICHMOND, Ind. — The
Earlham College baseball team spilt a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday as the Quakers defeated Robert Morris-Springfield 6-5 in nine innings to take the first game before falling 9-6 in the second contest.
Chris Baumann’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly was the difference in the opener at McBride Stadium.
With the score tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth,
Nate Reynolds led off with a walk.
Andrew Morrical beat out a bunt for a hit to put runners on first and second.
Tyler Schroeder laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners.
Jake Carr received an intentional walk to set the stage for Baumann’s winning moment.
Quakers Fall Behind Early
The Eagles (12-24) grabbed an early advantage with a run in the second and another in the third before the Quakers got on the scoreboard.
Ross Yoho started the third inning with a bunt single. After Yoho was caught trying to swipe second,
Chris Tillery walked and stole second.
Gilbert Ambler followed with a walk.
Morrical singled to knock in a run. Schroeder reached on a fielder’s choice and as the Eagles attempted to turn the double play, Ambler scored on an error to tie the contest at 2-2.
Carr doubled to give the Quakers a 3-2 lead. Baumann finished the rally with a RBI single.
Robert Morris-Springfield quickly tied the game at 4-4 with a pair of runs in the fourth before the Eagles went on top with a run in the fifth.
Earlham couldn’t score in the fifth or sixth, but Carr’s single in the seventh knotted the contest at 5-5 to send the game into extra innings.
Conner Gable (1-2), who gave up one hit in relief of starter
Adam Painter, worked the final four innings for the Quakers to earn his first win of the season.
Morrical led the Quakers with three hits, while Carr and Yoho added two hits each.
Game Two
The Eagles began the second contest with a run in the top of the first, but the Quakers responded with two in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.
Baumann tripled home Schroeder to tie the game before Gable’s RBI single gave the Quakers the lead.
Unfortunately for the Quakers, Robert Morris-Springfield scored four times in the top of the second to take the lead for good.
Earlham added a pair of runs in the third when
Nate Chandler had a double that sent two runners to the plate to make it 5-4.
The Eagles added three runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to take a five-run advantage.
The Quakers closed the gap in the sixth on two sacrifice flies by Schroeder and Baumann, but that was all of the offense they could produce.
Carr and Gable topped the Quakers with two hits apiece. Earlham starter
Corey Murray (1-3) worked five innings and suffered the loss.
The Quakers (8-20) finish the four-game non-conference series with a doubleheader on Sunday. The first game of the twinbill begins at noon.
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score