PNW Baseball Splits With Trinity Christian Saturday

PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Purdue University Northwest baseball team split a doubleheader with Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Trinity Christian Saturday afternoon.

The Pride (14-12, 7-5 CCAC) dropped the first game, 5-0, to the Trolls (16-18, 4-8 CCAC) before bouncing back to earn a 7-6 victory in Game 2.

Game 1: Trinity Christian 5, PNW 0

The Trolls started things off with a 1-0 lead after the first inning, followed by tacking on two more runs in the second to take a 3-0 advantage.

The Trolls would add on a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth frame and held PNW scoreless for the remainder of the game to take Game 1, 5-0.

Senior Tyler Crussen (Wheeler, Ind./Wheeler) led the Pride at the plate with a pair of hits while Hunter Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) and Larry Crisler (Gary, Ind./Bishop Noll) each recorded one hit in the game.

Jordan Petty (Fort Collins, Colo./Highland) started on the mound for the Black and Gold and threw a complete game, allowing five runs, two earned, on nine hits while striking out six.

Game 2: PNW 7. TCC 6

After two scoreless innings to start off the game, TCC added one run in the bottom of the third to take a 1-0 advantage.

PNW would answer back with one run in the top of the fourth, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Jonny Albers (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) which plated Jake Lindeman (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point).

Crisler would drive in Crussen on an RBI-ground out in the fifth inning, with Albers plating Alex Batistatos (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) on a single in the top of the sixth to put PNW ahead 3-1.

Trinity Christian would have a big inning in the bottom half of the sixth scoring five runs to take a 6-3 lead.

PNW would answer with a three-run seventh inning to even the score, starting with an RBI-double from Avondre Harris (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawka) which scored Crussen who doubled to lead off the inning.

Thorn would connect on a 2-RBI single that plated Crisler and Harris which put the game tied, 6-6.

The Black and Gold would take a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth inning, after Harris drove in Crussen again with an RBI-single.

Brett Shoults (Oxford, Ind./Benton Central) would enter the game in the bottom of the eighth on the mound and struck out the side, with Matt Sandoval (Highland, Ind./Bishop Noll) recording the save after shutting down the Trolls in the ninth.

Josh Arnold (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) recorded a no-decision on the mound, pitching five innings while allowing three runs and striking out four.

Fabian Del Real (Calumet City, Ill./T.F. North) got the win for the Pride, allowing three runs in two innings of work while striking out two.

Purdue Northwest returns to action Tuesday, Apr. 11, when the Pride travel to Rensselaer, Ind. for one 9-inning contest with NCAA Div. II opponent St. Joseph’s College starting at 3 p.m. (CT). ​