Baseball | 4/3/2026 8:06:00 PM
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College baseball team opened North Coast Athletic Conference play with a thrilling doubleheader against the Wabash College Little Giants. First-year center fielder
Patrick Leonard had a career day at the dish. In game one, Leonard became just the fourth player in team history to hit two home runs in a single game and followed it up with another blast in game two, bringing his season total to four, tied for the team lead.
In a back-and-forth offensive battle, the Yeomen dropped game one 14–11, before coming all the way back from down 6–0 in game two to stun the Little Giants 7–6 on a walk-off single from third-year right fielder Brady Groves.
In game one, Leonard provided an early jolt of energy for the Yeomen at Dill Field, ripping a towering moonshot well over the hedges in right field to set the tone early and give the Yeomen a 1–0 lead. One batter later, third-year first baseman Kyle Baxt lined a fastball over the hedges in right field to give the Yeomen a 2–0 lead.
Unfortunately for the Yeomen, that was the last time they held the lead in game two. The Little Giants rallied to score seven runs in the top half of the second to chase third-year right-hander Calvin Burkholder from the contest.
Leonard, Groves, and Baxt all finished game one with three hits. Leonard drove in four runs while Baxt drove in three to lead the team offensively.
Second-year left fielder Daniel Devapalan muscled out his second blast of the season over the right-center field wall; the Ontario, Canada native finished the game with two hits.
Fourth-year catcher Anton Shelton continued to stay hot at the plate, accounting for two hits as well.
Overall, the Yeomen racked up 15 hits and set a team record with four home runs in a single game in the hard-fought loss.
In game two, the Little Giants came out of the gates firing. By the top of the second, they had a 6–0 lead and chased second-year left-hander Warner Gearhart from the game. However, from that point on, it was all Yeomen.
In the bottom half of the second, second-year designated hitter Daniel Krabill ripped a run-scoring single to left, to put the Yeomen on the board.
In the bottom of the third, Leonard laced his third home run of the day, this one also flying over the hedges beyond the right field wall to make it a 6–2 deficit.
"Sometimes all it takes is one small adjustment, which is what happened for me," Leonard said regarding his record-setting day. "I knew how teams were going to try and get me out, and I was able to find a way to counter their approach and provide for the team."
Later in the inning, Krabill delivered an RBI groundout to first base to cut the lead to three.
In the bottom of the fourth, first-year third baseman Robbie Lynn singled to right field, scoring Devapalan to make it a 6–4 ballgame.
And in the fifth inning, Lynn delivered yet another run-scoring single to right to cut Wabash's lead to one. The next batter, second-year shortstop You-Fu Chen, knocked a game-tying single to right field to knot the score at six.
From the second inning on, the Yeomen bullpen was stellar. First-year right-hander Quinn Bamberger tossed 2.1 spotless innings. Third-year right-hander Davis Hayes followed that up with 3 clean innings of his own, only allowing one hit and striking out two. And in relief of Hayes, third-year Micah Rodriguez was efficient as well, only allowing one baserunner and striking out four in his three innings of work. In totality, the trio combined to throw eight scoreless innings, only allowing one hit while striking out six.
The game was tied at six heading into extra innings. In the top half of the tenth, Rodriguez stuck out the side to give the Yeomen momentum heading into the bottom half.
The Yeomen loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the tenth. Looking for their first home win of the season, Groves stepped up to the plate. The North Carolina native was 0–5 heading into the at-bat.
"I just tried to keep the same plan I had through all the other at-bats and not to overthink it," Groves said. "I think hearing how hyped up the people in the crowd and in the dugout were helped me have the confidence in myself for the moment."
Armed with confidence, Groves came through, ripping a game-winning single to left field and sending the Yeomen and patrons at Dill Field into a frenzy.
With the doubleheader split, the Yeomen are now 12-8-1, 1-1 in NCAC play.
"Now that conference play has arrived, the team and I have been able to take our game to the next level to play a brand of winning baseball when the games matter most," Leonard remarked.
The Yeomen will look to carry this momentum into their next conference matchup, a doubleheader with Wooster this Wednesday, April 8. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m..
