Tucson, Arizona – The Oberlin College baseball team fell to the Lewis & Clark Pioneers, 7-5, and 12-6 on Thursday afternoon at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona.
 
The sweep by the Pioneers dropped the Yeomen back under .500 at 9-10 and an even 6-6 on the trip. Senior second baseman Kyle Decker had three hits on the day, with two coming in game two to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
 
In the lid-lifter the Yeomen tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the sixth, but in the home-half of the inning the Pioneers' Derek Hyun would deliver a crushing two-out two-run single, lifting a 2-2 pitch to the gap in right field to put them on top for good.
 
Freshman Sean Kiley went the distance for the Yeomen as he suffered his first loss of the season to fall to 2-1.
 
The Pioneers scratched out a run in the first, but the Yeomen would take a 2-1 lead in the third. Justin Cruz and Derek Martin started the inning with back-to-back singles and later found themselves in scoring position. Ryan Bliss would plate the first Yeomen run on a sac fly to center and Decker followed with an RBI single back up the middle.
 
The score would again even up at 2-2 in the third, but the Yeomen would retake the lead in the top of the fifth on Jeff Schweighoffer's RBI single through the left side to score Bliss after he reached on an error.
 
However, in the fifth the Pioneers used five hits to score three runs, but the Yeomen answered right back in the sixth with a pair of their own to tie the game.  Andrew Hutson drew a lead-off walk and Danny Baldocchi followed with a single to center as he finished 3-for-3 in the game.  Benjamin Whitener then worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases. Sophomore Justin Cruz would then nail a hard ground ball through the left side to score Hutson and pinch runner Sam Harris.
 
Unfortunately, the inning was halted from there as Whitener got cut down at the plate trying to score on a ground ball and Bliss would hit into an inning-ending fielder's choice.
 
After Hyun's big hit in the bottom of the sixth, the Yeomen never threatened in their final at-bat as Decker was walked to start the inning, but the next three Yeomen hitters were all set down in order.
 
In the nightcap the Yeomen spotted the Pioneers 10 runs over the first three innings and could never work their way out of the hole.
 
They tried to chip away, scoring four runs in innings two and three with the solo tally in the second coming courtesy of a Cruz sac fly. In the third the Yeomen pushed three across with two outs as Hutson had an RBI single to center before Whitener followed with a two-RBI single back up the box.
 
Oberlin added two more runs in the sixth on Decker's two-run opposite-field triple to the left that sent Daniel Becker and Brian Hemmert across the dish. However, it wasn't nearly enough as Oberlin suffered its second sweep of the trip.
 
The Yeomen will conclude their time in Tucson tomorrow as they play a doubleheader against NAIA member Grace University (Omaha, NE). First pitch is set for 9 a.m. PDT.