Game One Box l Game Two Box l Stats From the Trip (10 Games)

Chandler, AZ – The Oberlin College baseball team procured its fifth straight doubleheader split on Wednesday afternoon against Middlebury College, winning game one 11-4, before dropping a thrilling yet heart-breaking affair in eight innings by the score of 8-6.

In the disheartening defeat, the Yeomen were one strike away from going home with a 5-4 win as Matt Wassel was down in the count 0-2 against Yeomen reliever Mike McDonald, but he was able to fist a ball through the right side to score the game-tying run in the form Zach Roeder who earlier reached on an error. What ensued was another Yeomen miscue that allowed the Panthers to claim a 6-5 lead heading into the home half of the seventh.

Sophomore Sean Cohen led off the frame with a double and he would later score on a fielder's choice play that also featured an error by Middlebury. With one out and the score now tied at six, the Panthers elected to intentionally load the bases to setup a force play at all of the bases and got exactly what they wanted when Robin Witjes hit a hard grounder right at the second basemen who threw home to record the out. However, for a brief moment it still appeared that the Yeomen would be walk-off winners when Zach Jaspers belted the first pitch he saw deep into the gap in right center, but it stayed up just long enough for Panthers' center fielder Dylan Sinnickson to sprint over and make a full-extension diving catch to force extra innings.

In the eighth inning the Panthers used three hits to score the two go-ahead runs and the Yeomen followed by going down in order to end the game.

Oberlin led 3-1 after one inning before Middlebury tied it up in the fourth inning. The Yeomen tacked on single tallies in the fifth, sixth and seventh, while the Panthers scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh before adding another pair in the eighth.

Mattie DeDoes got the start on the bump and went five innings before giving way to McDonald. He allowed seven hits and three earned runs. He struck out three and walked three in the no decision.

In game one things were much better for the Yeomen as they pounded out 13 hits in the victory. Zach Kisley led the way by going 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Witjes, McDonald and Ben Whitener all added two hits each.

Oberlin scored in each of the first four innings, posting crooked numbers in the first (3), third (2) and fourth innings (5).

The Yeomen jumped on the Panthers with three straight hits to start the game to score their first run and Eric Knight followed with a sac fly. Whitener capped the frame's scoring with an RBI groundout.

In the five-run fourth, Knight, Steve DiNanno Kisley and Jaspers all had RBI's.

Knight got the start on the mound and allowed seven hits and four runs, three of which were earned. The Scottsdale, native threw 100 pitches – 60 for strikes. He walked five and struck out three en route to earning his second win of the season.

The Yeomen will conclude their spring break trip tomorrow morning when they take on Lewis & Clark. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. MST/12:30 p.m. EST.