Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College baseball team earned its second-straight walk-off victory as William Heffernan sent a two-out single back up the middle in the bottom of the 11^th to give the Yeomen a 10-9 home-opening win over Muskingum University on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The offensive heroics were setup by the pitching of first-year right-hander Jakob Kustin who was absolutely sensational out of the Yeomen bullpen in his collegiate debut as he worked two unblemished innings in the 10^th and 11^th, striking out four of the seven batters he faced to earn the win.
 
Max Anastasio led off the home half of the 11^th by belting a 2-2 pitch into a left field and Kyle Grassl followed with a pinch-hit single through the left side to put the game-winning run into scoring position before Max Cairo moved Chris Wolfe 90 feet closer on a groundout. Heffernan then wasted no time, belting the first pitch he saw back up the box to jumpstart the postgame party.
 
A three-run home run by Devin Ryan gave the Muskies the early lead in the top half of the second but Oberlin stayed close with single tallies in the second and third. Cairo poked a two-out run-scoring single to right field in the second and Yianni Gardner belted a solo shot into the trees in left field in the third.
 
Oberlin later trailed 4-2 but more clutch two-out hitting leveled the score in the bottom of the fourth as senior David Fineman roped a double down the left field line to plate Cairo. He and Jake Blozy would then trade places as he rookie came through with a two-base hit of his own down the left field line.
 
The Muskies answered back with single tallies in the fifth and sixth but the Yeomen would get one back on one swing in the sixth when Alex Vaughan sent a towering home run over the wall in the center to make it a 6-5 game.
 
However, the Muskies posted three in the seventh to grab a 9-5 lead. Junior sidearmer Alexander Norris would then stymie the Musky hitters in the eighth and ninth, allowing just one hit and walk to set the table for the Yeomen comeback.
 
Oberlin trimmed the gap down to one with three runs in the eighth as Fineman came through once again with two-run double to left before Blozy smacked a triple to the gap in center to allow Fineman to walk home. However, the Muskies still had the lead at the end of the inning.
 
In the Oberlin ninth, pinch runner Joe Strabley was at third with one out but a hard grounder right at third baseman forced him to stay put and had the Yeomen down to their final out. It appeared the comeback bid would fall short but Vaughan's grounder went through the shortstop's legs to let the tying run score and the game continue.
 
Oberlin belted out 16 hits in the game while Muskingum had 13. Jacob Thompson earned his first start on the bump since 2019, tossing four innings while surrendering four runs on five hits to accompany his two walks, two hit batters, and four strikeouts. Yeomen pitching racked up 14 punchouts on the day.
 
Oberlin will now travel across state lines for a three-game weekend set in Richmond, Indiana, against Earlham.