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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology closed the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season baseball schedule with a doubleheader split against Defiance College on Senior Day Saturday at Art Nehf Field.

The Fightin' Engineers honored their nine seniors prior to the opening game, then won 15-0 in the opener.  Defiance bounced back to capture a 5-3 win in the nightcap and split the doubleheader.

Rose-Hulman stands 23-11 entering Sunday's non-conference regular season finale doubleheader at Wabash College.  The Fightin' Engineers finished 12-6 in the HCAC regular season and will be the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.  Rose-Hulman will face Earlham in the HCAC Tournament opener on Thursday May 12 at 3:30 pm in Kokomo, Indiana.

In the opener, three Rose-Hulman pitchers combined on a shutout and the Fightin' Engineers relied on a pair of home runs in a 15-0 victory.  

Shane Garner provided the big blast with a senior day grand slam in the eighth inning.  Josh Mesenbrink had the biggest offensive day at 3-for-3 with a home run, triple, two walks and two RBIs.

Manuel Lopez added three hits, a double and two RBIs. Adam Taylor also had a 3-hit game with two runs scored and two RBIs.

The offense was more than enough for three pitchers to combine on a shutout.  Ian Kline improved to 7-2 on the season with six shutout innings.  Kline allowed just two hits with six strikeouts.

Paul Durell tossed two scoreless innings, and Jason Ims tossed a scoreless ninth to complete the shutout.

In the nightcap, Defiance scored three runs in the fourth inning and relied on strong pitching to win 5-3.  Sam Thombs allowed just two earned runs in six innings, and Tyler Hines and Kendall Duval recorded the final nine outs for the Yellow Jackets pitching staff.

Mesenbrink capped a 6-hit day with three more hits, including a double.  Harrison Finch added a perfect 3-for-3 performance with one run scored.

Other Rose-Hulman players with multiple hits include Lopez, Drew Roberts and Nathan Burke with two hits each.

Josh Erpenbeck led the pitching effort with 5.2 innings of one-hit relief with four strikeouts.

Rose-Hulman also honored its nine seniors prior to the first game.  The Class of 2022 includes Nathan Burke; Harrison Finch; Shane Garner; Jason Ims; Josh Mesenbrink; Drew Roberts; Matthew Rouse; Adam Taylor; and Brett Tuttle.

Rose-Hulman improved to 23-10 on the season and 12-5 in HCAC play, while Defiance dropped to 9-26 and 3-14 in league games.  The Fightin' Engineers will open the HCAC Tournament at Kokomo Municipal Stadium on Thursday.  The winner of the 5-team double elimination tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

GAME 1 | Rose-Hulman 15, Defiance 0

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Engineers took the lead for good in the second, scoring for the first time in the inning. Rose-Hulman's offense started clicking and put up four runs, including a two-run single off the bat of Brett Tuttle.The Engineers then tacked on runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings, with their biggest output coming in the eighth when they scored six times. The big hit in that inning was a grand slam off the bat of Garner.

GAME NOTES
» Kline, Durell, and Ims combined to throw a two-hit shutout.
» Rose-Hulman got three-hit games from three different hitters.
» Kline struck out six Yellow Jackets hitters.
» The Engineers power output was led by Mesenbrink, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» Garner drove in four runs for Rose-Hulman.
» Rose-Hulman's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed six runs across.
» The Engineers had control of the rest of the game after moving ahead of the Yellow Jackets 4-0 in the bottom of the second.
» Kline put together six innings of scoreless ball for the Engineers.
» The Engineers out-hit the Yellow Jackets at a 12-2 clip.
» Rose-Hulman went 7-for-15 (.467) with runners in scoring position.
» The Engineers got three hits in four at-bats with the bases loaded.
» Rose-Hulman pitchers faced 31 Defiance hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out eight.
» The Engineers drew seven walks from Defiance pitching.
» Mesenbrink led the Engineers at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a triple, a home run and two RBI.
» Defiance was led offensively by Austin Horning, who went 1-for-4.
» John Hammerstein led the Yellow Jackets pitching staff, throwing 4.2 innings of two-run ball.

GAME 2 | Defiance 5, Rose-Hulman 3

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Engineers got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Rose-Hulman got on the board thanks to Mesenbrink's RBI double with one out.

The Yellow Jackets failed to push any runs across before the Engineers offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Rose-Hulman picked up two runs in the frame, the big hit being an RBI double from Burke, which brought the score to 3-0 in favor of the Engineers. The Engineers were unable to hold the lead, as Defiance scored five times over the remaining seven innings to grab the 5-3 win.

GAME NOTES
» The Engineers got three-hit games from both Mesenbrink and Finch.
» Rose-Hulman's highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed two 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 Yellow Jackets at a 14-5 clip.
» Rose-Hulman pitchers limited Defiance to just 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position.
» Rose-Hulman pitchers faced 39 Defiance hitters in the game, allowing 14 ground balls and three fly balls while striking out 10.
» Mesenbrink led the Engineers at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
» Defiance was led offensively by Nate Kaffenbarger, who went 2-for-5 with a double.

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