Baseball opens spring break trip with twin-bill sweep of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

DAVENPORT, Fla. — The Ohio Northern baseball team opened its 12-game spring break trip with a double header sweep of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday night., winning 4-1 in eight innings in the opener and 14-5 in the nightcap.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (4-1 overall), Massachusetts-Dartmouth (0-4 overall).
• Venue: NERP Field #4, Davenport, Fla.

Game One - W, 4-1 (8 inn.)

• Ohio Northern scored in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 1-1 and send it into extra innings on a 2-out double by junior Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky /Trinity) to score senior Sam Sells (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) from first base.
• In the top of the eighth, junior Chase Armstrong (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) scored on a one-out, bases loaded wild pitch to make it 2-1.
• Sells then delivered a two-out, two-run single to score senior pinch-runner Elliott Veenstra (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) and sophomore Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.) with a pair of insurance runs.
• Sophomore Matt Serdinak (Sagamore Hills/Walsh Jesuit) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the win (1-0) and senior Brady Corbitt (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) threw a scoreless eighth to earn his first save of the season.
• Senior Joe Tootle (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) allowed just three hits and one unearned run in 6.0 innings, striking out a career-high 12 batters for Ohio Northern.
• ONU out-hit UMD 6-4.

Game Two - W, 14-5

• Northern scored nine times in the bottom of the second after the Corsairs took a 5-0 lead with 5 runs in the top of the frame.
• The Polar Bears added three more runs in the third to increase the lead to 12-5.
• Freshman Charlie Oakleaf (New Albany) hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 14-5 and wrap up ONU's scoring.
• Senior Sam Thombs (Commerce Township, Mich./Lutheran) threw 5.0 innings with 11 strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 1-0 on the year.
• ONU out-hit UMD 10-3 and drew 10 walks in the contest.

Notables

• Armstrong and sophomore Kyle Callahan (Brunswick) led the Polar Bear offense with three hits apiece the day.
• Northern leads the all-time series with Massachusetts-Dartmouth 2-0. 
• Through 5 games this season, sophomore Evan Russ (Westfield, Ind.) leads the Polar Bears with a .667 batting average, going 12-for-18 with 9 RBI.
• Senior Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) now has 88 base hits in 91 career games.
• Armstrong now has 86 base hits in 79 career games.
• Ohio Northern is in its 120th season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1470-1155-20 all-time, a winning percentage of .560.
• 14th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 282-207 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .577.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will continue its spring break trip on Sunday with a 5:15 pm double header against St. Joseph (Conn.)