ATHERTON, Calif. (Baseball) – Derek Moore (JR/Wheelersburg, Ohio) went nine innings, Mitchell Lendenski (SR/Loveland, Ohio) hit a home run and scored the go-ahead run and Brandon Bonar (SR/Chillicothe, Ohio) worked through a 10th inning jam to earn the save, as the Shawnee State baseball team grabbed a two-game split with Menlo College on Friday at Cartan Field.
The Bears won the opening game of the series in a, 2-1, extra-inning victory following Moore's stellar performance, but were the victims of a pair of bad early innings in game two en route to a 13-4 defeat.
Game 1
The Bears and Oaks got things started with a quality pitchers' duel in the opening game of a four-game series, as Moore and Ashkhon Kuhaulua each put up dominating performances.
Kuhaulua went 7.1 innings, allowing just one run on three hits while walking three. Moore provided the counter-punch with nine innings pitched, five hits, a run, and five strikeouts.
The two squads went hitless through four, when SSU got a single from Andrew Vanthournout (SO/Bowling Green, Ky.) – the lone base knock over the first six and a half frames.
Menlo got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, opening the inning with a leadoff triple from Dalton Maxwell. Max Dutto followed with an RBI single, putting the Oaks up 1-0. Shawnee State would immediately respond.
It was Lendenski who answered the call, leading off the bottom of the eighth with a homer over the right field wall. The two sides would each work through the ninth scoreless, sending the game to extra frames.
In the top of the tenth, Lendenski again came through, this time with a leadoff double to left center. Austin Hall (SR/Wheelersburg, Ohio) followed with a groundout to advance the runner, and Mike Watson (SO/Niles, Ohio) lifted a two-out single through the right side to put the Bears ahead, 2-1.
Despite a pair of seeing-eye singles in the bottom of the tenth, Bonar was able to induce a fielder's choice turned double play, as Nick Rose (FR/Olentangy, Ohio) fired to Austin Hall to catch the potential tying run at the plate and bring the game to a close.
Game 2
Game two was not nearly as fortuitous for the Bears, as Menlo exploded for six runs in the second inning to jump out in front, and followed with another six-run third, making it a 12-0 lead after three frames.
Shawnee State was held scoreless until the fifth, when the Bears pushed two across thanks to an RBI single from Matt Dvorscak (SO/Whiting, Ind.) to plate Connor Wilson, and JT Boggs (SO/South Shore, Ky.) knocked in a run to make it 12-2.
In the seventh and final frame, the Bears got a leadoff walk from Santiago Martinez (FR/Gahanna, Ohio) and a double from Conner Kindred to knock in a run. Boggs added a sac fly to score another, the bringing the game to its final, 13-4, score.
Jason Alexander earned the victory for Menlo, going 5.0 innings, allowing two unearned runs on a pair of hits, while striking out four. Clay Tefft (SO/Wauseon, Ohio) took the loss for the Bears in 2.1 innings of work, while Joe Loyd (FR/Bidwell, Ohio) and Jarin Hall (FR/Prestonsburg, Ky.) each provided innings of relief work.
Shawnee State and Menlo are back in action at Cartan Field, squaring off in another doubleheader, set to begin at 11 a.m. PST.
