TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology retained a one-game lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball standings with a doubleheader sweep over Defiance College on Sunday at Art Nehf Field.
In the opener, Rose-Hulman scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth and relied on strong pitching to earn a 5-3 victory. Cody Sunderhaus allowed just four hits with five strikeouts in seven innings, before Clayton Mayfield retired the Yellow Jackets in order in the ninth to pick up the save.
Offensively, the Fightin' Engineers had 11 hits in the opener to provide support. Davis Robeson, David Burnside and Logan Schiessle recorded two singles each, and Koby Close had a single and a double. Close and Schiessle each contributed one run and one RBI to the performance.
In the nightcap, sophomore Conner Shipley snapped a 5-5 tie with a two-out triple in the eighth inning to score Close with the game winning run in a 6-5 Rose-Hulman win.
Close led the Fightin' Engineer offense with a 3-3 performance that included a double, two runs scored and one RBI. Shipley added a triple, single, one run scored and one RBI.
The Rose-Hulman pitching staff relied on six pitchers in the second game victory. Luke Buehler allowed just one earned run in five-innings of work, and Chuck Alexa picked up the victory in relief. Mayfield earned his second save of the day by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Rose-Hulman improved to 16-16 and 14-5 in HCAC play with the victory, while Defiance fell to 11-21 and 8-11 in league games. The Fightin' Engineers return to action on Tuesday with another conference game at Anderson University.
