Sophomore Dan McMullen leads Baseball in 16-4, 4-2 sweep of Wilmington

By Thomas McArdle

ADA – Sophomore Dan McMullen had three extra base hits as the Ohio Northern baseball team defeated Wilmington 16-4 and 4-2 in an Ohio Athletic Conference double header Wednesday afternoon at Wander Field.

The Polar Bears improve to 13-9 overall, and 4-2 in the OAC, while the Quakers fall to 3-26, 0-8.

In game one, Northern started with four singles and three walks in the bottom of a 4-run first inning. Senior Cody Meyer and sophomores Jordan Bostater, Braydon Focht and Brandon Kasberg each had RBI singles in the inning.

Wilmington managed one run in the second inning, but ONU extended its lead with a two RBI double by Focht in the bottom of the second.

Senior Nick Eltzroth batted in two runs with a single to right field in the third inning. Two errors in the inning helped Ohio Northern to end the inning with a 10-1 lead.

The Quakers plated two runs in the sixth to pull within 12-4.

But McMullen tripled to right center in the bottom of the seventh to bring in Kasberg, senior Andy Lubonovic batted in McMullen with a single and junior Devin Carr also scored in the inning to open the lead to 15-4.

Kasberg scored from first on a McMullen double in the eighth to add an insurance run. Meyer, Eltzroth, and Bostater had three runs each in the victory, and Focht led the team with four RBI.

Senior Alex Crabtree (3-0) earned a win by giving up just two earned runs in five innings of work.

Freshman Austin Frey earned the save for his 3.2 innings of 1-hit relief.

The second game was more competitive with stronger pitching performances by both teams.

Lubonovic singled in the third and stole second before taking advantage of a wild pitch to get to third base. Sophomore Hayden Shenefield singled to score Lubonovic to take a 1-0 in the bottom of the third.

Wilmington answered with an unearned run in the fifth, but Northern took the lead back with three runs in the next inning.

McMullen led off the inning with a triple to left field. Sophomore T.J. Storer knocked a single to right field to score McMullen.

Kasberg stole second to cause an error which allowed Storer to score. Senior Clay Small flied out to right field to bring in Kasberg. ONU had a 4-1 lead at the end of the sixth.

Carr started on the mound for Ohio Northern, but senior Ben Eckert earned the win for his 4.2 innings of relief. Storer faced pressure pitching in the ninth inning, but only allowed one run to earn his fifth save of the year in the 4-2 victory.

The Polar Bears will return to action Thursday as they travel to Mount Union for a double header starting at 1 pm in Alliance.