Baseball: Ohio Wesleyan takes two from DU

On a soggy day at Littick Field in Delaware, Ohio Wesleyan University won two pivotal North Coast Athletic Conference West Division games against the Denison baseball team on Monday afternoon. The Bishops took the opener 2-1 and won the nightcap 5-4.

The Big Red broke a scoreless tie in game one with a run in the top of the second. Junior catcher Alex Horn (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) led off the inning with a single through the left side of the infield. After a balk moved the senior to second, the junior advanced to third as senior Andy Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) reached base via throwing error. Horn crossed the dish on a double steal.

The Battling Bishops answered in the fifth frame as they took their only lead of the game. Josh Gardner hit a lead off double to left center and James DiBiasio followed that up with a single to left to put runners on the corners. Scott Wise laced an RBI single up the middle to score the game-tying run. After a bunt to third by Zach Frentsos loaded the bases with no outs, Logan Hronis singled to third off reliever Aidan Lucas (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) to plate the go-ahead tally.

Denison had a chance to tie the game in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs. However, Robbie Shane came out of the OWU bullpen to record the final out of the contest and earn his third save of the season.

Horn and senior Justin Held (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) combined for all five of DU's hits. Horn finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base while Held was 3-for-4 with a double. Sophomore Bob Giarratani (Winthrop, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) suffered the loss and fell to 2-1 on the season. Giarratani allowed two runs on seven hits with one strikeout in four innings of work. Lucas tossed the final two frames allowing one hit and fanning two batters.

Eric Livingston pitched 6.2 innings en route to his second win of the year. Livingston scattered five hits, allowed one unearned run and struck out eight.

Down 2-0 in the fifth inning of game two the Big Red rallied to grab the lead. Freshman Bill Sanders (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) got things going with a lead off double to right center. Classmate Andrew Mahle (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery) followed that up with a single through the left side that put runners on the corners. Johnson logged the third consecutive hit of the inning and drove in Sanders to cut the deficit in half. Base hits by rookie Evan Nicholson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) and junior Park Smith (Warren, N.J./The Pingry School) each drove in a run to give Denison a 3-2 advantage.

OWU regained the lead in the bottom half of the frame when Wise cranked a two-run bomb to right field. The two squads plated a run in the sixth as the Bishops held a 5-4 edge heading into the seventh. Unfortunately, the lengthy rain delays lead the game being called because of darkness with one out and one on in the top of the seventh.

Lucas suffered the loss after allowing one run off one hit in 1.1 innings of relief. Ohio Wesleyan's Mitchell Monke allowed one hit in one inning to earn the victory.

The Big Red falls to 16-13 overall and 6-4 in the NCAC West Division while OWU improves to 19-11 and 9-3 in league play. DU returns to the field on Wednesday when they host Otterbein College at 6 p.m.

Game One Box [htm]

Game Two Box [htm]