Armstrong, Stechschulte each join 100-Hit Club as Baseball picks up 2 wins at Muskingum to stay unbeaten in OAC play

AKRON— Senior Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) and junior Chase Armstrong (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) each joined the 100-Hit Club for their careers, leading the Ohio Northern baseball team to a 6-0 record in Ohio Athletic Conference play with a pair of road wins at Muskingum, 16-3 and 7-5 in 10 innings, on Friday.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (18-6 Overall, OAC 6-0), Muskingum (18-6, 4-4 Overall).
• Venue: Skeeles Field - Akron, Ohio.

Game One, W 16-3

• Ohio Northern's offense erupted in the first inning, scoring 6 runs, to grab a quick 6-0 lead.
• Stechschulte recorded a 2-RBI single with the bases loaded to make the game 3-0.
• Junior Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky./Trinity) and sophomore Zane Pratt (Piqua) both recorded RBI singles in the inning as well.
• Sophomore Evan Russ (Westfield, Ind.) kept the ball rolling in the 2nd with an RBI single of his own.
• Armstrong recorded an RBI single in the third.
• Sophomore Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.) and sophomore Devon Morris (Archbold) recorded an RBI single and RBI sacrifice fly, respectively, pushing the Polar Bear lead to 11-0 in the third. 
• Freshman Jackson Saylor (Springboro) got the win for the Polar Bears moving him to 4-0 on the season. 
• He allowed only a single run and five hits in 7.0 innings of work. 

Game Two, W 7-5

• Muskingum struck first in the 3rd inning, and took the lead 1-0.
• Stechschulte answered in the 4th with a two run home run, putting the Polar Bears back on top 2-1.
• The Muskies answered in the 6th, tying the game at 2-2.
• The game remained tied until ONU scored 3 runs in the 9th.
• Pratt scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, and made it 3-2.
• Senior Sam Sells (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) had an RBI single to make it 4-2.
• Senior Elliott Veenstra (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) was also able to score on a throwing error, which added another run and made it 5-2.
• MU managed to tie the game with three runs in the bottom half of the 9th, and sent the game into extra innings.
• In the 10th, Veenstra hit a ground ball that led to a throwing error which allowed Reed to score.
• Pratt again scored on a wild pitch, and secured an insurance run for the Polar Bears at 7-5.
• Senior Sam Thombs (Commerce Township, Mich./Lutheran) started on the mound for Northern, pitching a solid 5.2 innings, and only allowing 2 runs on the day.
• Senior Blake Altaffer (Montpelier) got the save for the Polar Bears tossing the final 3.0 innings of the game. 
• Sophomore Matt Serdinak (Sagamore Hills/Walsh Jesuit) secured the win for the Polar Bear behind 1.2 scoreless innings to close out the game. 

Notables

• Stechschulte led the ONU offense going 4-10 on the day and knocking in 4 RBI's 
• Ohio Northern now leads in the all-time series 52-34 against Muskingum.
• Through 24 games this season, Oakleaf leads the Polar Bears with a .338 batting average, going 20-for-59 with 15 RBI.
• Senior Blake Altaffer (Monteplier) is tied for 9tin team history in all-time saves with 5. 
• Stechschulte has also now joined the 100-Hit Club with 100 hits in 110 career games.
• Armstrong has also joined the 100-Hit Club with 100 hits in 98 career games. He is also tied for 7th all-time at ONU with 20 career home runs.
• Ohio Northern is in its 120th season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1484-1160-20 all-time, a winning percentage of .557.
• 14th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 296-212 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .581.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears will return to action on Monday when they travel to a neutral site battle against Asbury (Ky.) at 5 p.m in Cincinnati.