Baseball kicks off RussMatt Invitational with 7-3, 6-5 double header sweep over Saint John Fisher (N.Y.)

Baseball kicks off RussMatt Invitational with 7-3, 6-5 double header sweep over Saint John Fisher (N.Y.)
Video Video Box Score Box Score
March 7, 2026

AUBURNDALE, Fla. — The Ohio Northern baseball team kicked off its spring break trip to Florida with a double header sweep over Saint John Fisher (NY.) 7-3 and 6-5 on Saturday.

The Basics

  • Records: Ohio Northern (5-0 Overall), Saint John Fisher (N.Y.) (7-4 Overall).
  • Venue: Lake Mrytle #8 - Auburndale, Fla.

Game One - W, 7-3 (7 Innings)

  • Ohio Northern struck first after junior Kyle Callahan (Brunswick) scored in the first. The offense didn't stop there as Evan Russ (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) had an RBI single and then senior Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) drilled a 2-run homer to make it 4-0.
  • Saint John Fisher responded in the 4th inning thanks to an RBI single.
  • Stechschulte doubled in the top of the 6th to score Russ and push the lead to 5-1.
  • Senior Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky./Trinity) ripped a single that scored 2 more runs in the frame for the Polar Bears, putting the lead at 7-1
  • The Cardinals managed to plate 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to get within 7-3.
  • Aslyn Farinelli (Crown Point, Ind.) (2-0) pitched all 7.0 innings on his way to picking up his second win of the season in complete-game fashion.

Game Two - W, 6-5 

  • The Cardinals scored in the top of the first to go up 1-0.
  • Freshman Carson Stevens (Wyoming) got ONU on the board with an RBI single in the third to tie things back at 1-1.
  • Trailing 3-1, Northern scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth, keyed by an RBI double by junior Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.), to make it 4-3.
  • The Cardinals scored 2 runs in the top of the 8th to tie the game at 5-all.
  • With runners on first and third in the bottom of the ninth, Reed laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to score freshman Tyler Reinhart (Boonville, Ind.) with the winning run.
  • Freshman Jarrett Haan (Findlay) got the start and pitched 6.0 innings for the Polar Bears .
  • Trenton Fulkerson (Huntsville/Indian Lake) picked up the win for Ohio Northern to improve to 1-0.

Notables

  • Stevens and Stechschulte led the way offensively, with Stevens going 3-5 at the plate with 2 RBIs and Stechschulte was 2-for-5 at the plate with a homer and double to go with 3 RBIs.
  • Ohio Northern lead the series between the two schools 4-2.
  • Senior Chase Armstrong (Boonville, Ind) is 5th all-time in ONU history in home runs (24), 6th in RBIs (111) and doubles (36) and is 8th in walks (80). 
  • Armstrong (125), and Stechschulte (124), Reed (123) and Lapp (105) are all members of ONU's a00-Hit Club. 
  • Ohio Northern is in its 121st season of baseball. The Polar Bears are 1497-1163-20 all-time, a winning percentage of .558.
  • 15th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte is now 310-216 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .585.

Up Next

  • The Polar Bears will continue play in the RussMatt invitational with a double header on Sunday against Western New England (Mass.) at 4:30 pm.