NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology had its nine-game winning streak snapped with two tightly contested losses at defending Heartland Conference champion Manchester University on Saturday.
Manchester won 6-4 in the opener, then scored four times late to capture a 4-2 victory in the nightcap. The two teams are now tied for first place in the HCAC standings at 7-2 on the year.
In the opener, Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 2-0 lead and the score was knotted at 3-3 after the Engineers scored once in the top of the seventh. Manchester responded with one run in the seventh and two in the eighth to earn the victory.
Freshman Zach Trusk (Plainfield, Ill./North) finished 4-4 with a double and one run scored to lead the game one offensive effort. Sophomore Kody Alayon (Hammond, Ind./Bishop Noll) added three hits, including a triple, with one RBI and one run scored.
Sophomore Andrew Stull (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) kept the Engineers within striking distance with a strong pitching performance. Stull scattered nine hits with six strikeouts and held the Spartans to four earned run in 7.2 innings of work.
Justin Miller led the Manchester offense with a home run, a single, three runs scored and one RBI. Elliott Ford, Sean Knepper and Kyle Norris had two hits each for the Spartans.
Temujin Sery picked up the game one win for Manchester by scattering 12 hits over 8.1 innings of work to move to 3-0 on the year. Josh Copp recorded the final two outs for the save.
In the nightcap, Rose-Hulman led 2-0 into the bottom of the seventh, before Manchester scored three unearned runs to take the lead and eventually earn the win. Alayon again led the offense with two hits, with senior Hank Akard (Indianapolis/Ben Davis) adding a single and an RBI.
Sophomores Patrick Klima (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph) and Warren Whithaus (Robinson, Ill.) each had a single and scored once. Sophomore Karson Nixon (Jasper, Ind.) suffered the hard-luck loss, allowing no earned runs with five strikeouts and allowing just four hits in 6.1 innings of work.
Ford led the Manchester offense with two hits, one run scored and one RBI. Dylan Padgett allowed five hits in eight innings with five strikeouts in the victory, with Copp earning his second save of the day by pitching a scoreless ninth.
Rose-Hulman stands 12-6 overall and 7-2 in league play, while Manchester has a 13-9 mark and is 7-2 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers and Spartans conclude their three-game series with a nine-inning game on Sunday at noon.
