The St. Edward’s baseball team came away with two dominating wins against Lincoln on Saturday at Lucian-Hamilton Field. After coming back Tuesday to avenge two losses on Monday, St. Edward’s (3-2, 3-2 HC) won the first game, 16-2, and the second game, 12-2 against Lincoln (0-5, 0-5 HC).
In game one, the Blue Tigers struck first in the top of the first inning, coming away with two runs off of three hits against Hilltopper starting pitcher Jeff Rohrbach. But the Hilltoppers responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning, putting up four runs on three hits. One run came from an RBI single off of the bat of first baseman Dexter Moreno. The other three runs were the result of left fielder Justin Shufelt’s first homerun of the season.
Rohrbach cruised from there, allowing only three more hits and no runs throughout the remainder of the game.
The Hilltoppers’ offense was not finished. In the third inning, the Hilltoppers added another four runs to the scoreboard thanks to some miscues by the Blue Tigers, aggressive base-running, and an Adam Wolotira single that drove in two runs. It was more of the same in the fourth inning. The Hilltoppers added two more runs thanks mostly to free bases from walks and hit batsmen. Then, a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Adam Shank in the fifth added another run to the lead.
The Hilltoppers put an exclamation point on the win in the sixth inning, scoring five runs on four hits against freshman Caleb Kemna, including a bases-clearing three-run triple by center fielder Chandler Mosser. Nic Godre also picked up an RBI-single.
Rohrbach (1-0) finished with the complete game victory for the Hilltoppers. Dustin Bess (0-2) received the loss for the Blue Tigers.
Mosser went 2-for-4 with three RBI’s and a run scored while Godre went 2-for-2 in his two plate appearances off the bench. Shortstop Tim Redden also had two singles with an RBI and a run scored.
The Hilltoppers continued the offensive onslaught in the second game. The Hilltoppers began the second inning with a 1-0 lead and did not look back. In the inning, the Hilltoppers put up seven runs on five hits and three Lincoln errors. After surrendering one run in the inning, Blue Tiger starting pitcher Darren Lasley loaded the bases by walking one batter and hitting two others. Moreno made Lasley pay, blasting a grand slam over the left field wall. The home run was Moreno’s first of the season. Then, a series of singles and a throwing error helped the Hilltoppers take an 8-0 lead.
In the third inning, Lasley hit the Hilltoppers’ first two hitters before he was given the hook. Lasley hit six Hilltopper batters on the day and walked three others. A throwing error and a wild pitch from the Blue Tigers’ Brian Golden added two more runs to the Hilltopper lead.
With Hilltopper starting pitcher Paul Smith’s pitch count over 80 on the day, the Blue Tigers were finally able to score runs in the game. After pitching five shutout innings, Smith gave up a single and two walks to load the bases before handing the ball to junior Dustin Johnson. Johnson limited the damage to two runs before finishing the inning.
The Hilltoppers added one run in the fifth and another in the sixth before freshman southpaw Max McDonald closed the door on the Hilltoppers’ win.
Smith (1-1) picked up the win for the Hilltoppers while Lasley (0-1) went down with the loss.
For the Hilltoppers, Mosser scored four runs despite not having any official at-bats in the game. In addition, Moreno picked up four RBI’s from the grand slam, and Eric Morgan went 2-for-3 with a homerun and two runs scored.
The Hilltoppers return to action tomorrow to close out the series with two more games against Lincoln. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Lucian-Hamilton Field.