The KSU Tusc baseball team got the brooms out Friday afternoon and swept a double header with much needed 12-10 and 10-0 wins on the road.
Taking a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the second inning of the first game, the Golden Eagles had to feel good about their early start against Lorain County Community College. After the inning concluded however, they found themselves on the short end of a 6-1 score via a five-run Commodore explosion that featured just one earned run with three walks and an error.
Over the first three innings KSU Tusc managed just one hit, a lead-off triple by Andrew Powell in the second inning. They got themselves into a jam in the home half of the third stanza, jamming the bases with LCCC runners via three free passes, but managed to record two consecutive outs to end the threat.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Eagles scored a single run on singles by Josh Leonard and Powell to close the lead to 6-3. They managed to hold off the hosts again in the bottom of the inning, who scored a run on two KSU errors but left two runners stranded.
KSU Tusc added two tallies in the fifth after a walk to Michniak and singles by Kyle Shockley and Caleb Campbell. Two stolen bases helped moved runners in to scoring position, but the Eagles still trailed 7-5.
After the Eagles left two runners on base in the top of the sixth, LCCC got runners aboard on three walks and scored a run on a ground out to stretch their lead to 8-5.
A full-blown conflagration awaited the Commodores in the top of the seventh as the Golden Eagles erupted for seven runs. They sent 12 batters to the plate and collected six hits, five stolen bases and got runners on base by virtue of a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. Shockley lined a double into center, while Campbell, Powell, Michniak, Caleb Salgado and Scottie Sauernheimer all produced RBI singles for the navy and who gold flipped the script and took a 12-8 lead and found themselves just three outs away from victory.
The first three Commodore batters reached base to start the bottom of the seventh and scored two runs to creep to within 12-10, before the game ended on a pop out and ground out as the Eagles snapped a seven game losing streak.
Powell was 3/3 at the plate with a triple, two RBIs and scored twice, while Campbell was 3/5 with a pair of RBIs and scored two runs and Shockley was 2/3 with a double and crossed the plate twice. Campbell was the winning pitcher for KSU Tusc who stole 12 bases in the game.
The Golden Eagles shutdown LCCC in the second game behind the pitching of Leonard who surrendered just two hits in 10-0 five inning victory. He helped his own cause by going 2/3 at the plate and also scored two runs. He was the only Eagle with a multiple hit game, but had seven hits behind him to lift KSU to victory.
Shockley led off the game with a triple, one of five hits in the opening stanza as 10 KSU Tusc batters stepped into the batter's box. Campbell, Leonard and Burcher all had singles, while Braydon Maine smacked a double as the Eagles took an early 5-0 lead even though they left two runners on base.
They added four more runs in the top of the second, scoring on just one hit---Leonard's second single of the game. Three Eagles batters were plunked by pitches and two more were walked as Tusc put their first six batters of the inning on base. Two were left stranded as they built a 9-0 lead.
It wasn't until the third inning that LCCC managed to get their first hit of the game. They got two singles in the frame, but they were erased by a double play and a pop out to end their turn at the dish.
Salgado led off the KSU fourth with a single and took second on an error. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored what would be the final run of the game on a groundout.
Both Powell and Sauernheimer had two-RBI games as the pair of wins improved the Eagles record to 7-17 on the season. Campbell led the defense with nine chances and the Eagles did not commit an error in the game.
KSU Tusc travels to Miami Middletown on Sunday for a double header with a 12pm start.
Caleb Campbell makes a tag and was 3/5 in the first game with nine putouts in the second game in a twin bill win at LCCC.
(Photo by Lindsay Nicholson)