By Tim Glon
Ohio Northern scored three times in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and post a 4-1 victory over Oberlin on a chilly but nice Thursday afternoon, March 2, at Wander Field in Ada.
The Polar Bears improve to 2-1 on the season, while the Yeomen fall to 1-2.
The contest was the earliest recorded home opener since ONU began playing baseball in 1891. In 2016, Northern swept a double header from Oberlin 7-2 and 1-0 on March 12 at Wander Field in the previous earliest home opener.
Pitching dominated the early stages of the game as the two teams combined for just three hits and no runs in the first five innings.
Ohio Northern got on the board first when junior Dakota Durick (New Castle, Ind.) led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, advanced to second on a sac bunt by freshman Chase Armstrong (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by senior Jacob Wenning (Coldwater).
Oberlin tied it in the top of the seventh with a leadoff triple and a two-out, bad-hop single that hit the third base bag for a hit and a 1-1 tie.
Sophomore Hunter Kauser (Paulding) led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, stole second and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give ONU a 2-1 lead.
Freshman Robbie Reed (Goshen, Ky./Trinity) and Durick followed with walks and Armstrong had an infield single to lead the bases with one out.
Senior Corey McMann (Flower Mound, Tex./Liberty Christian) plated Reed with a ground ball and his hustle to prevent the double play forced an errant throw and allowed Durick to score from second to make it 4-1.
Sophomore Vaughn Duncan (Springfield) shut the Yeomen down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to pick up his first career save.
Senior Jack Hutchins (Bright, Ind./East Central) allowed just one earned run in 3.0 innings of relief to earn the win on the hill and improve to 2-0 on the year.
Sophomore Blake Peterson (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) threw four shutout innings, allowing only one hit, as the starter.
The Polar Bears are scheduled to return to action March 11-19 on their spring break trip to central Florida for the Russ Matt Invitational.
