Baseball sweeps Ohio Christian on final day of four-game series
(Circleville, OH) - The Rochester Christian baseball team finished up its series against the Ohio Christian Trailblazers on Saturday. The Warriors' bats would wake up in the first game, with RCU scoring 14 runs, and the second game saw more of a pitching duel, with RCU earning the sweep with a 5-3 win. RCU moves back to .500 on the season with a 5-5 record.
GAME 1 - ROCHESTER CHRISTIAN 14, OHIO CHRISTIAN 10
Joey Wagner opened the game on the mound for RCU, pitching 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with a strikeout.
Both teams earned runs in the first inning, with RCU scoring a pair of runs with Dakota Shafer getting a bases-loaded walk and Issander Vega hitting a sacrifice fly. OCU scored a run on an RBI groundout. The second inning saw Shafer hit a grand slam, giving him five RBIs for the game. Ohio Christian responded right back with three runs in the bottom of the second.
RCU scored five runs in the fourth inning, extending their lead to 11-4 with a trio of walks and an error. The seven-run lead didn't last long as OCU was able to score four runs, piecing together a couple of hits.
Issander Vega hit a two-RBI double in the fifth as the Warriors put up some insurance runs in the fifth, and a third run would score on a ball from Cael Kuzinski. The final three innings for the Trailblazers would see them add a couple of runs to draw within four runs.
Louis Frontero (1-0) followed Wagner on the mound, allowing six runs on six hits with a strikeout. Jeffrey Preston came in to relieve Frontero, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing a pair of runs with three strikeouts. Tyrce Davis finished up the game, getting the only batter he faced out.
GAME 2 - ROCHESTER CHRISTIAN 5, OHIO CHRISTIAN 3
Dakota Shafer (2-0) pitched the opening 4.1 innings of the game, allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout.
Matthew Shakotko got the scoring started in the first inning with a fly out to centerfield, with OCU tying the game up right away in the bottom of the inning. Issander Vega started the second inning with a walk and would eventually come around to score on an error by the Trailblazer pitcher. The game was tied up again in the third on an OCU double.
RCU retook the lead in the fourth inning with Nathaniel Crane hitting a two-RBI double, scoring Issander Vega and Christian Rivera. OCU once again responded an inning later, by scoring on a passed ball. Issander Vega would score the fifth RCU run of the game in the sixth inning.
Landon Fahey pitched the next 2.1 innings, allowing one baserunner with a trio of strikeouts. Jayden Peterson (2) closed the game out, getting the final out.
UP NEXT
The Warriors are back in action next weekend with a series against Cincinnati - Clermont on March 7-8.