Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 l Stats from the Trip (6 Games - PDF)

Tucson, AZ – The Oberlin College baseball team fell victim to rough circumstances in two long nine-inning games against Carthage College and Carleton College on Monday at the Kino Veteran Memorial Stadium. The Yeomen fell to Carthage 10-9 in 10 innings and then dropped a heart-breaking 11-10 decision to Carleton.

Carthage Recap

Oberlin led 9-5 heading into the eighth inning, but that is when things took a turn for the worse in the 10-9 10-inning loss to Carthage. The Red Man battled all the way back in the top part of the inning with a four-run burst to tie the game. Carthage had just two hits in the frame, but three walks in the frame proved too be costly.

Oberlin had chances to pull ahead in both the eighth and ninth innings, but could not do so. Following a double by Andrew Hutson, Daniel Baldocchi belted a deep fly to left that was hauled in just shy of the warning track, and in the ninth the Yeomen put two aboard with two out, but could not push a run across.

In the top of the 10th, Oberlin relief pitcher Mike McDonald had recorded two of his six strikeouts around a one-out single. It appeared he would get out of the inning unscathed, but an error in the Oberlin outfield allowed the go-ahead – and ultimately – the game-winning run to score. McDonald, who entered in the eighth, tossed three full innings and allowed just three hits and two walks. 

Following the heartbreak, Oberlin was then shutdown in order in the bottom of the 10th.

Sophomore Ben Whitener made his first collegiate start on the mound and battled through some control problems, but still managed to toss a solid game. The 6-foot-5 right hander from Washington, D.C. got through five innings, allowing just three hits. However, he did tie a school record with six hit batters en route to surrendering five runs (four earned) in five innings of work in the no decision.

Carthage posted two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Yeomen responded back with four of their own in the home half of the inning.  McDonald got the rally going with a two-run triple to center field. Mattie DeDoes would later add an RBI groundout prior to Baldocchi's two-out single back up the box.

The Red Man added a run in the second and two in the fifth to claim a brief 5-4 lead. The Yeomen plated three runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning to regain control. DeDoes drew a walk and Hutson followed with a single to set the stage for Eric Knight's clutch pinch-hit two-run single. Knight worked the count to 3-2 and then sent a scorching line drive into the right-center gap to score both DeDoes and Hutson. The rally continued with one of the rarest plays in baseball as Zach Jaspers was credited with a bunt double after indecision and poor positioning by the Knights' defense allowed Knight to go from first to third, while he ended up at second on the play.  Robin Witjes, who had four hits in the game, belted a single of his own to send Knight home, but Jaspers slipped rounding third and was tagged out to end the inning.

The Yeomen would add one in the sixth on a sac fly from DeDoes and one more on an RBI-single from Witjes in the seventh to go up 9-5. Unfortunately, it ended up not being enough to secure the win.

Carleton Recap

Unfortunately, for Yeomen fans in attendance the second game of the day against Carleton felt eerily similar throughout and the results were nearly identical.

Oberlin entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 10-7 lead that quickly evaporated as the Knights used four hits and two Oberlin errors to score four runs en route to the 11-10 win. Following a sac fly to tie the game, the Knights would be absolutely gifted the game-winning run as a throwing error with two outs put the Yeomen down one. It was one of five Yeomen miscues in the game. 

In their last at-bat in the top of the ninth, Jeff Schweighoffer led off the inning by reaching on an error and was moved over to second on a sac bunt by Blaise Dolcemaschio. However, Knights relief pitcher Ted Harmon was able to induce a ground out and fly out to end the game en route to earning the win.

Both teams traded single tallies in the first, but Carleton would add three more in the second on four hits and one Oberlin error that resulted in two of three runs scored to be unearned. However, Oberlin would get within one at 4-3 in the top of the third. Whitener plated the first run on a sac fly to left and Hutson followed with a two-out RBI single to left that scored Knight, who doubled earlier in the inning.

Oberlin posted single tallies in the fifth and sixth, but Carleton combined for three runs in those innings as well to lead 7-5 heading into the seventh where the Yeomen erupted for four runs. Knight sent with first run in with a triple to left and would come home to score on Whitener's single. Following a sac bunt, DeDoes added an RBI groundout before McDonald's run-producing triple to score Hutson. Oberlin would tack advantage of two Carleton errors to plate one more run in the eighth, but ultimately it was not enough.

Rookie Jesse Kohler got the start on the mound and worked his way through 4.2 innings. He scattered six hits while walking two and fanning two. He allowed six runs, but just one was earned in the no-decision. Ryan Bliss, who tossed 2.1 innings in relief, was the tough-luck loser.

Oberlin will look to regroup tomorrow against Hamilton College. The doubleheader is set to begin at 10 a.m. PST.