Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College baseball team ended its conference slate with a split against the Hiram College Terriers, dropping game one 13-10 before bouncing back with a 9-5 win in the nightcap.
 
Game two opened with a double from senior Brendan Mapes, giving him 42 career two-base hits as he passed Eric Knight's '13 mark of 41.
 
The Yeomen had 26 hits on the day led by freshman Ian Ashby and sophomore Alexis Castillo as they each had five hits and combined for 12 RBIs.
 
Senior southpaw Zachary Steer cruised through the front six innings of game two before running into some trouble in the seventh. He ultimately departed after 6.1 innings, as he sprinkled seven hits and allowed five runs (four earned) on a 102 pitches. Nick Dawkins would finish the job, tossing the final 2.2 innings and surrendering just two hits to earn his second save of the year.
 
Oberlin, which was the designated visiting team for both games, staked Steer with a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as three of the first four Yeomen hitters would double. Mapes would score on a Castillo two-bagger who would then come around to score on Jacob Thompson's double to right center. The final run of the rally would come across on a Hiram error.
 
The Yeomen would add a solo tally in the third on a two-out run-scoring single by Ashby before putting two more on the board in the fourth on ground balls by Nick Nelson and Mapes. The lead would swell out to 7-0 in the fifth on a sac fly by Ashby.
 
Hiram would push one across to get on the board in the sixth and would really tighten things up with four in the seventh to chase Steer from the game. Thankfully, the Yeomen were able to exhale a little in the eighth as Castillo came through with a two-out two-run bases-loaded opposite-field double down the left field line to score Mapes and Ben Reed.
 
The Terriers would get a man on base in each of the eighth and ninth innings but the final outcome was never in doubt.
 
Game one turned into a high-scoring affair as the Terriers led 4-0 after two innings before the Yeomen evened the count in the top of the third, scoring all four runs with two outs. Castillo had a two-run double to right center and Ashby would later plate two more Yeomen with a single to right center.
 
Hiram responded with a three-run fourth but the Yeomen would once again answer back with three of their own in the fifth. The first run of the rally came courtesy of Castillo's first-career home run and Ashby would later uncork a towering two-run home run over the wall in left to make it a 7-7 game.
 
A sac fly in the sixth by Lawrence Hamilton and a two-RBI to left center by Reed in the seventh gave the Yeomen a 10-7 advantage but they could not make it stand up.
 
Ian Dinsmore battled his way through 6.1 innings, allowing 11 hits and eight runs – three of which were earned. He would give way to senior classmate David Gaetano after throwing 124 pitches. However, he was unable to protect the lead as Kyle Harris belted a two-out go-ahead grand slam to put the Terriers out in front, 11-10.
 
They would go on to add two more insurance runs in the eighth to put the finishing touches on their first conference win of the season.
 
Hiram finished with 16 hits in the win, while the Yeomen had 13 in the loss.
 
Oberlin (15-21, 7-11 NCAC) and Hiram (6-26-1, 1-16-1 NCAC) will conclude their respective seasons tomorrow at Dill Field with another doubleheader. Oberlin will honor its 12 seniors prior to game one.