PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Purdue University Northwest baseball team split a doubleheader with Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Trinity Christian Saturday afternoon.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Game 2: PNW 7. TCC 6
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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.
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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).
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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.
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Trinity Christian would have a big inning in the bottom half of the sixth scoring five runs to take a 6-3 lead.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Josh Arnold (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) recorded a no-decision on the mound, pitching five innings while allowing three runs and striking out four.
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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.
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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). ​
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