Walsh University, 7-4, at Heritage Field in Berea
BEREA, OHIO — The Baldwin-Wallace College baseball team defeated nonleague foe and NAIA power Walsh University today (Friday, April 29), 7-4, at Heritage Field in Berea.
With the win, B-W is now 16-10 overall and travels to Ohio Athletic Conference rival and first place Otterbein College for a key OAC doubleheader tomorrow (April 30) at 1:00 p.m. The Yellow Jackets enter that twinbill at 8-6 in the OAC and are in fourth place.
The Yellow Jackets scored three times in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead before Walsh tallied three runs of its own in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. B-W then earned the win when it scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the first inning against Walsh, B-W scored three times as senior shortstop Jason Albright (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania/ East Pennsboro) led off with a base hit, moved to second on a hit by junior right fielder Dan Melito (Massillon/ Washington) and then Albright moved to third and Melito to second when senior Mike Turchan (Mayfield) had B-W's third straight single. After one out, Albright scored on a ground out for the second out and then both Melito and Turchan came home when junior center fielder Matt Green (Elyria/ Senior) singled.
In the sixth, sophomore first baseman Bob Storesina (Canton/ GlenOak) singled, was sacrificed to second and then scored on a double by junior second baseman Kevin Brown (Cuyahoga Falls) to give the Jackets a 4-3 lead. After the second out and a walk to Melito, Turchan singled home Brown to give B-W a 5-3 advantage. Then both Melito and Turchan scored when unior left fielder Mike Farrell (Wickliffe) singled.
On the mound, sophomore Brian Pille (Lorain Catholic) started and threw the first four and one-third innings before being relieved by junior Nick Quarando (Amherst Steele) in the fifth. Quarando tossed one and two-third innings of scoreless relief to earn his first collegiate pitching win and move to 1-0. Quarando was followed to the mound by sophomore Jim Wochele (Richmond Heights) in the seventh, sophomore J.D. Fullerton (Cuyahoga Falls) in the eighth and senior Nick Slater (Wooster/ Norwayne) in the ninth as each tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Slater has now thrown 11 and one-third innings this year and has not allowed an earned run.
Offensively, Turchan and Farrell led the way with a pair of base hits each.
In addition to travelling to Otterbein, next week, B-W will play just a Saturday, May 7 doubleheader at home versus Wilmington College at 1:00 p.m. as it is final exam week in Berea.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please call Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, FAX him at 440-826-2329 or e-mail him at kruple@bw.edu.
275 Eastland Rd.