BOX SCORES: GAME 1 / GAME 2
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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Manchester University split a pair of one-sided baseball contests on Friday night at Art Nehf Field. The series finale, scheduled for Saturday at noon, has been cancelled due to rain.
Rose-Hulman exits the weekend with the HCAC lead at 15-5 in league play. Manchester stands second in the conference at 14-8 in league play, and Transylvania entered Saturday at 13-8. The Fightin' Engineers technically hold a two-game lead in the conference standings after this weekend's action.
Manchester won the Friday night opener 9-1, before Rose-Hulman won the nightcap 13-5.
In the opener, Eric Knepper led the Manchester offense with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored. Chad Schultz and Nick Latham had two hits each for the Spartans, and Brandon Eck allowed nine hits and one run in a complete game effort.
Senior Caleb Kissel paced Rose-Hulman with two singles, and senior Patrick Klima recorded an RBI double to lead the game one offense.
In the nightcap, Kissel pounded out four hits and senior Zach Hull had a three-hit performance to lead Rose-Hulman past Manchester 13-5.
Kissel had a double, three singles, three RBIs and one run scored as part of Rose-Hulman's 14-hit attack. Hull added a single, double and his first college triple with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Other Rose-Hulman players with multiple hits in game two included Koby Close with two singles, a double and one run scored; and junior Hazen Hamather with a single, a double, three RBIs and one run scored.
The offense helped senior Karson Nixon improve to 6-2 on the season with the victory. Nixon pitched six innings, allowing five hits with nine strikeouts. Three pitchers combined for the final nine outs of the contest.
Tailur Szarenski led the Manchester offense with two hits and three RBIs. Schultz also had two hits and scored two runs for the Spartans.
Rose-Hulman stands 23-9 and leads the HCAC at 15-5 in league play, while Manchester stands 20-15 and 14-8 in conference games. The game scheduled for Monday May 2 against Illinois Wesleyan has been moved to May 9, and Rose-Hulman returns to the diamond on Tuesday at Franklin College.
