Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College baseball team suffered a conference-opening sweep to the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops as they came to Dill Field and defeated the Yeomen 9-1 and 6-5 on Saturday afternoon.
The Yeomen, who have been mired in a team-wide slump for much of the season, got out-hit 23-13 on the day while striking out 16 times.
In game one, the Yeomen hitters could not find a way to get to Bishops' starter Kevin Zullo as he cruised through eight innings, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while fanning seven.
Yeomen junior
Zachary Steer went pitch-for-pitch with Zullo through the front four innings as it was a 0-0 ballgame until the top of the fifth when the Bishops scratched out a run on a sac fly by Dalton Henderson.
The first four OWU hitters would reach base to start the sixth inning to chase Steer from the game as he gave way to senior
Sean Kiley, who was promptly welcomed by Colin Stolly as he sent Kiley's first pitch over the wall in right for a grand slam to break the game open and give the Bishops a 6-0 lead.
OWU would tack on three more unearned runs in the eighth before Oberlin pushed its lone tally across the dish on an error in the home half of the inning.
Steer (3-1) took his first loss of the season, going 5-plus innings. All five runs on his line were earned. The Concord, Massachusetts, native struck out four and walked two.
Game two started off great for the Yeomen as they scored three runs in the first inning and led 5-1 after four innings, but the Bishops continued to fight as they rallied back to earn the win.
Three straight singles by
Jack McGowan,
Quin Butler, and
Brendan Mapes loaded the bases for
Alexis Castillo in the bottom of the first. The rookie from Davie, Florida, lifted a sac fly to center to score the game's first run before fellow freshman
Lawrence Hamilton followed with a two-out two-run double to the gap in right center.
Ian Dinsmore, who led off the second with a double, would score on a single back up the box by
Milo Sklar to make it a 4-0 Yeomen advantage.
Yeomen starter
Noah Gear cruised through the first three innings, but the Bishops' Michael Blatchford led off the fourth with a home run over the wall in right field. The Yeomen would get that tally back in the bottom of the frame on a sac fly to center by McGowan, however the inning ended with two runners stranded in scoring position.
The Bishops would make it a 5-3 game in the fifth as Matthew Mewssick belted a two-run home run over the wall in right field.
While the Bishops were chipping away at the lead, the problem was compounded by the Yeomen bats going cold as they did not get a hit after the fourth inning.
Back-to-back singles to start the sixth chased Gear from the game. The Yeomen turned to
David Gaetano for the first out, before going back to Kiley for the final two outs of the frame. After a quick pop up for the second out of the inning, Henderson smacked a 3-2 pitch to centerfield for a two-out two-run double to tie the game, 5-5, as all five inherited runners against Kiley on the day would score.
The Bishops would go out in front for good in the seventh, loading the bases with one out to set the stage for Stolly's go-ahead RBI single that whizzed into right center field.
Canyon McWilliams (1-1) earned the win for the Bishops as he pitched four scoreless innings in relief, allowing just two walks while registering seven punch-out's. Kiley went 1.2 innings, allowing five hits and a run as he dropped back to 1-5 on the year.
Sklar tossed the eighth and ninth innings for the Yeomen, giving up two hits to go along with two strikeouts in two scoreless innings of work.
The sweep drops the Yeomen back to 7-13 on the year and 0-2 in league play. The Bishops moved to 2-0 in the NCAC and 6-9 overall.
Oberlin is back in action on Wednesday afternoon as it welcomes Allegheny College to Dill Field for another NCAC doubleheader. First pitch of game one is set for noon.
