Oberlin, Ohio - In the final game of their three-game set against Kalamazoo, the Oberlin College baseball team fell 8-7 in a back-and-forth battle. The Yeomen bats broke through, as the team had a season-high 12 hits. First-year center fielder
Patrick Leonard led the charge with a career-high four hits, while third-year right fielder
Brady Groves and second-year shortstop
You-Fu Chen had two hits apiece.
Second-year catcher Daniel Krabill, second-year left fielder Daniel Devapalan, and third-year first baseman Kyle Baxt all hit solo home runs. For Krabill and Baxt, it was their second big fly of the season, while it was Devapalan's first.
Through ten games, the Yeomen have blasted eight home runs as a team. For reference, last season the Yeomen finished the season with 15 home runs, with Baxt accounting for seven.
On the mound in game three, the Yeomen turned to second-year Warner Gearhart. In the left-hander's second start of the season, the Riverside, CT native fought through three innings, giving up six hits and six earned runs.
After finding themselves in a 6-1 hole after three innings, the Yeomen turned to first-year Quinn Bamberger in relief of Gearhart. The right-hander continued to be stellar in his second appearance of the season, spinning three scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
"Coming in down five runs is always tough, but I knew my main job was to come in and put up some zeroes to stop the bleeding," Bamberger said. "My main goal was to hold them off and wait for our offense to get hot."
As Bamberger kept Kalamazoo at bay, the Yeomen offense started to get rolling.
In the bottom of the fifth, Leonard knocked a single to center to score Chen, and Groves singled to right to score Leonard and make it a 6-3 game.
"My goal today was to not try and do too much and stay simple with my approach, only taking what they're giving me," Leonard said after his career-high day. "As the season goes on and other teams start attacking my weaknesses, continuing to grow and develop as a player will help me find success like I did today."
In the top of the seventh, Bamberger left with runners on first and second and nobody out. In relief, Oberlin turned to third-year Micah Rodriguez. After a bunt single down the third base line, Rodriguez struck out the side to keep the deficit at three.
In the bottom half, Baxt launched a ball into the right field hedges and Krabill followed two batters later with a deep shot over the hedges to make it a one-run game.
Kalamazoo responded with two runs in the top half of the eighth to push the lead back to three.
But the Yeomen did not roll over. In the bottom of the eighth, Groves laced an RBI double down the line to score Chen, and Leonard scored on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game.
Rodriguez retired Kalamazoo in order in the ninth to give the Yeomen a chance heading into the home half of the ninth.
Unfortunately, the Yeomen went down in order as they dropped the game 8-7. With the loss, the Yeomen are 3-6-1 while Kalamazoo moves to 11-2.
The Yeomen are back in action this Saturday, March 14 for a doubleheader at Wilmington. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
