ANDERSON, IND. -- Anderson University catcher Cole Heberling singled home the game winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Ravens past Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 6-5 in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball battle at Anderson on Tuesday night.
Heberling's one out single scored Kyle Otolski with the game winning run in a matchup of two teams that entered the contest in a tie for second place in the HCAC standings.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, before Anderson rallied with one run int he fourth and four in the fifth to take a 5-3 advantage. The Fightin' Engineers battled back with single runs in the sixth and eighth innings to force extra frames, before Anderson won the game in the 11th.
Junior Josh Hoeing (Rushville, Ind.) led the Rose-Hulman offense with three singles, one run scored and one RBI. Sophomores Kody Alayon (Hammond, Ind./Bishop Noll) and Nevin Fansher (Noblesville) added two singles each.
Five Rose-Hulman pitchers battled through the first 10 innings to keep the score tied at 5-5. Senior Kevin Farley (Centennial, Colo./Littleton) allowed one run and two hits in 3.1 innings, and junior R.J. Carroll (Lexington, Ky./Catholic) tossed two scoreless innings to lead the pitching effort.
Nick Nunez came out of the Anderson bullpen with four innings of one-run relief ot earn his first victory of the season. Hebeerling had three singles, one run and one RBI, while Jacob Craft had two hits and a three-run triple to highlight the Ravens offense.
Rose-Hulman relied on a walk to Alayon, singles by senior Hank Akard (Indianapolis/Ben Davis), sophomore Caleb Kissel (Plainfield, Ill./North), Fansher and Hoeing to plate three runs in the third inning.
After Anderson rallied to claim a 5-3 lead, Rose-Hulman relied on singles by Hoeing and freshman Kevin Jendra (Wheaton, Ill./Benet Academy) to bring the margin within 5-4 in the sixth. In the eighth, a single by sophomore Patrick Klima (South Bend/St. Joseph), a wild pitch and another Hoeing single knotted the score at 5-5.
Anderson improved to 19-11 overall and 12-7 in conference play, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 17-13 and 11-8 in league games. The Fightin' Engineers return to action with a non-conference game at DePauw on Thursday.
