Maryville, Tennessee – On opening day, Oberlin baseball dropped their first two games against the Maryville Scots. In a back-and-forth battle, the Yeomen dropped game one 9-8 before falling 8-1 in the nightcap.
Sophomore pitcher
Calvin Burkholder got the opening day nod for the Yeomen in game one. The right-hander battled through three innings, giving up seven hits while surrendering six runs (four earned).
After falling behind 3-0 in the bottom of the second, the Yeomen responded in the top of the third. Sophomore first baseman
Kyle Baxt got the Yeomen on the board with a single through the left side scoring junior catcher
Anton Shelton.
In the top bottom of the third, The Scots tacked on three more runs behind poor defensive play from the Yeomen to take a 6-1 lead. Oberlin finished with six errors in game one.
In the top of the sixth, the Yeomen bats were rolling. A single to right from senior center fielder
Zach Masnikoff scored Baxt to cut the lead down to four. The next batter, senior third baseman
Zachary Ritts, doubled down the left field line to score freshman shortstop
Ryan Robinson and Masnikoff to bring the Yeomen within two.
In the top of the seventh, the Yeomen added on again. Freshman second baseman
Jeffery Chen registered his first career collegiate hit, a double in the left-center gap to score fellow freshman left fielder Jack Bradell to make it a one-run game.
In the top of the eight, Baxt, who set Oberlin's all-time single-season record for hits in a season last season with 69, hit a towering solo shot deep into the left field bleachers to know the score at 6.
"It felt really good to go out there and get my team back into the game," Baxt said when asked about his game-tying swing. "I was just able to put a good swing on the ball and catch a barrel."
Oberlin's momentum continued throughout the top of the eight. Robinson lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Yeomen their first lead of the game. Freshman catcher
Daniel Krabill added another insurance run for the Yeomen on an error to make it an 8-6 game.
Freshman pitcher
Matthew Ruttkay was instrumental in helping the Yeomen mount their comeback. The righty went four scoreless innings while striking out four. Unfortunately for the Yeomen, the lead was short-lived.
In the bottom of the eight, Oberlin turned to sophomore pitcher
Micah Rodriguez. After Maryville loaded the bases with nobody out, Rodriguez retired the next two batters he faced before an error tied the game at 8. On the very next batter, Maryville took the lead, blooping a single into right to give them a 9-8 lead.
The Yeomen went down in order in the ninth, as Maryville held on to move to 4-0 on the season.
In game two, the Yeomen turned to sophomore pitcher
Grayson Black. Like Burkholder in game one, Black ran into trouble in the third inning. With two outs, Maryville had three consecutive hits, capped off by a two run home run to put the Scots up 4-1.
Oberlin's only run of the game came in the top of the second on a RBI groundout from Ritts to score freshman designated hitter Sam Labrecque to temporarily put the Yeomen ahead 1-0.
Freshman pitchers Warner Gearheart and
Dylan Norman, along with senior pitcher Max Wasserman, closed the game for the Yeomen. The trio gave up four runs (all unearned) and struck out five in 5 ⅓ combined innings.
Poor defense persisted in game two; the Yeomen had three errors that led to four runs for the Scots.
Robinson, sophomore
Brady Groves, and Labrecque were the only Yeomen to register hits in game two, and the team finished with only three.
The Scots moved to 5-0 on the year, while the Yeomen opened their season 0-2.
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