SOUTH BEND, Indiana.- The Indiana University South Bend Baseball Team (7-11, 3-1 CCAC) won three of their four conference opening weekend games against the Tigers of Olivet Nazarene University (5-10, 1-3 CCAC) winning 12-5 and 7-4 in day one followed by a day two split, winning game three 4-1 before dropping the fourth and final game of the series 14-7.
Day 1
Saturday’s CCAC opener saw the Titans jump out to an early 5-0 lead through the first two innings of play. ONU responded with two unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning, cutting the Titan lead to three. IUSB responded quickly with three more runs in the top of the fourth inning fueled by a Clint Goodman RBI single and a Josiah Nelson two RBI double bringing the score to 7-2. After a few scoreless innings the Titan offense got back to work in the top of the sixth inning scoring four more runs bringing the lead to 12-2 behind a Braedon Leathed bases loaded walk, a Jack Ryan 2 RBI single, and a wild pitch that brought home Braedon Leathed. ONU tried to spark a late comeback scoring one in the bottom of the sixth and 2 in the bottom of the seventh but it was too little too late as the Titans cruised to a 12-5 win in game one of the conference series. Adam Amodei was the starting pitcher going 2.0 innings only allowing one base runner and striking out one. Josh McCormick threw the last 5.0 innings of the seven inning game, allowing six hits, five runs, three earned runs, while striking out nine.
The nightcap saw the Titans once again jump out to an early lead scoring one in the first inning and two in the third. ONU clawed their way back to make it a 3-3 ballgame through the fifth inning by scoring one run in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings. IUSB took the lead in the sixth behind a Joe Jefferson RBI single and added onto it with two more runs in the top of the eighth inning bringing the score to 6-4 going into the bottom of the eighth. The Tigers scored an unearned run and were threatening with two runners on and nobody out in the eighth inning before Connor Roark entered the game and induced a double play and a groundout to end the ONU threat with the Titans still leading 6-4 going into the final inning. The Titans added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a Braedon Leathed Sacrifice fly to center field. Roark threw a scoreless bottom of the ninth closing the door on a 7-4 doubleheader sweep for the Titans. Riley Thomas picked up the win on the mound throwing 4.0 innings of relief three runs, 1 earned, and striking out 4. Roark picked up the save in his two innings of work late in the game.
Day 2
Sunday saw a location change to the all turf Penn High School baseball field in Mishawaka, Indiana. ONU stayed the home team even though the Titans were playing in the South Bend area for the first time this season. Game three of the series was a pitcher’s duel as it was knotted up at 1-1 through five innings of the seven inning game of the doubleheader. The Titans broke the tie in the top of the sixth inning scoring two from a Josiah Nelson RBI infield single and a passed ball that brought Goodman home. IUSB added one more run in the top of the seventh inning on a Jefferson RBI single to left field to bring the final score to 4-1 in favor of the Titans. The tandem of Josh Vis and Gabe Cortez worked well on the mound with Vis throwing 2.0 scoreless innings in the first two frames striking out two. Cortez threw the last 5.0 innings earning the win only allowing four hits, 1 run, and striking out 2.
The final game of the series was all ONU as the Titans fell 14-7 in the final game of the series. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead scoring two in the first inning, but it was the nine run third inning that saw the Titans send three different pitchers to the mound to stop the bleeding as ONU led 11-2 after three innings of play. IUSB chipped away at the Tiger lead getting the game within four runs at 11-7 after the top of the fifth inning, but one more run for ONU in the bottom half and two more in the bottom of the sixth allowed them to pull away to what eventually turned out to be the 14-7 final in favor of the Tigers.
IUSB won their first conference series of the CCAC slate bringing them to a 3-1 record good for first place after the opening weekend. The Titans return to more CCAC action as they travel to La Crosse, WI to face a new conference opponent in Viterbo University for a four game series on Friday and Saturday March 14th and 15th. Links to Live Stats and Live Video can be found on Baseball’s Schedule on iusbtitans.com the home IU South Bend Athletics.