TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Anderson University earned a pair of 1-run victories in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball opening doubleheader at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon.
Anderson captured the opener 4-3, then narrowly earned a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
In game one, Adam Taylor and Shane Garner led the Rose-Hulman offense with a double and one run scored each. Nathan Burke added a single and an RBI.
Ian Kline pitched seven strong innings with seven strikeouts and just three earned runs allowed, but the Ravens scratched just enough runs to pick up the 4-3 win. Josh Erpenbeck closed the game with two scoreless innings for Rose-Hulman.
In the nightcap, Rose-Hulman led 4-2 after three innings before Anderson rallied to take a 5-4 advantage. Brett Tuttle answered with a seventh inning home run for Rose-Hulman to tie the score at 5-5.
T.J. Price provided eventual game winning home run for Anderson as the final run in the 6-5 decsion. Tyler Smitherman added a home run and a double for the Ravens.
The Rose-Hulman offense featured five players with two hits each. Tutle had a home run, two runs scored and one RBI.Â
Colter Couillard-Rodak, Josh Mesenbrink, Dalton Busboom and Manuel Lopez each contributed two hits to the effort. Couillard-Rodak had a double and a single, and Taylor and Lopez each had triples for the Fightin' Engineers.
Anderson improved to 10-9 and 2-0 in HCAC play, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 9-6 and 0-2 in league play. Weather permitting, Rose-Hulman returns to the field on Tuesday to face Hanover in another HCAC doubleheader.
GAME 1 | Anderson (IN) 4, Rose-Hulman 3
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 4-0, the Engineers first put runs on the board in the fourth inning. Sophomore Dalton Busboom came across to score the lone run of the inning for Rose-Hulman and get them on the board.
The Engineers kept the Ravens off the board before narrowing the gap further in the fifth. Rose-Hulman scored a run when senior Josh Mesenbrink drew a walk from Walker Stull that scored Taylor, which tightened the Ravens lead to 4-2.
Rose-Hulman kept the Ravens off the scoreboard before narrowing the gap to 4-3 in the ninth. The Engineers scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Burke. The Engineers were unable to get any closer, as neither team scored again in the ballgame.
GAME NOTES
» Rose-Hulman's highest scoring inning was the ninth, when it pushed one run across.
» Rose-Hulman pitchers limited Anderson (IN) to just 1-for-6 (.167) with runners in scoring position.
» Rose-Hulman pitchers faced 33 Anderson (IN) hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and seven fly balls while striking out eight.
» The Engineers drew five walks from Anderson (IN) pitching.
» Taylor led the Engineers at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a double.
» Anderson (IN) was led offensively by Jake Stank, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBIs.
» Stull led the Ravens pitching staff, throwing five innings of two-run ball.
GAME 2 | Anderson (IN) 6, Rose-Hulman 5
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 1-0, the Engineers first put runs on the board in the second inning. Rose-Hulman scored three runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-run triple from senior Adam Taylor.
The Ravens then gained ground, narrowing the lead to 3-2 until the Engineers expanded their advantage in the third. Rose-Hulman scored once on an RBI single off the bat of sophomore Manuel Lopez, which brought the score to 4-2 in favor of the Engineers.
Rose-Hulman's lead had evaporated once the seventh inning arrived and turned into a 5-4 Anderson (IN) advantage, when the Engineers evened up the game at five. The Engineers picked up a run on Tuttle's two-out solo home run off Logan Nickel. Anderson (IN) then scored one time over the remaining two innings to break the tie and grab the 6-5 win.
GAME NOTES
» Rose-Hulman's highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed three runs across.
» Five Rose-Hulman hitters had multiple base knocks in the ballgame.
» Rose-Hulman left 11 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» The Engineers out-hit the Ravens at an 11-9 clip.
» Rose-Hulman pitchers faced 41 Anderson (IN) hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out six.
» Tuttle led the Engineers at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.
» Anderson (IN) was led offensively by Tyler Smitherman, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs.
» Nickel led the Ravens pitching staff, throwing three innings of one-run ball.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
