Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State baseball returned home on Saturday, with a two-game sweep of Ohio University Chillicothe to open a four game homestand. The Bears took game one 11-4, and followed up with a 4-0 victory in game two.
In game one, Shawnee State opened the scoring, when Seth Clement (FR/Kissimmee, Florida) started the first inning with a double into right field. He would go on to score on a groundout to short from Dalton Phillips (JR/Hastings, Michigan). The Hilltoppers were quick to respond, in the top of the second they equalized on a RBI single from Bowen Dratwa. In the bottom half of the second inning the Bears were quick to answer, Blake Marshall (JR/Lexington, Kentucky) hit a sac fly that was bobbled, then RBI singles from both Seth Clement and Sam Gerhold (SR/Shelton, Washington) pushed the SSU lead to 4-1.
Shawnee State would stretch their lead even further in the third inning. Chase Thurber (JR/Andover, Ohio) hit an RBI triple followed by Joseph Campos (FR/Orlando, Florida) who hit an RBI single. Casey Claflin (SR/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) hit an RBI double to left field and would go on to score on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly RBI from Sam Gerhold, scoring Blake Marshall would conclude the bottom of the third for SSU as they now led 9-1.
The Bears would push across two more runs in the game when Zach Straley (FR/Uniontown, Ohio) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth and Anthony Nichols (JR/Fargo, North Dakota) laced an RBI single into left field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ohio University Chillicothe tried to create a last inning rally pushing across three runs in the top of the seventh inning, but they could not erase the deficit falling to Shawnee State 11-4.
Game two featured a lower scoring affair. Seth Clement doubled to open the first inning and after stealing third base, would score on a Sacrifice fly RBI to center field from Dalton Phillips. The game would remain at 1-0 until Shawnee State scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a groundout to shortstop from Levi Jones (JR/Millersburg, Ohio), scoring Sam Gerhold, an RBI single from JT Boggs (SR/South Shore, Kentucky) and heads up baserunning from Boggs scoring on an error. The Bears would finish the game pitching a shutout as they concluded the series with a 4-0 victory.
In game one, Cody Rawlins (SO/Ironton, Ohio) got the win, throwing 3.1 innings allowing four runs, only one earned on four hits and recording four strikeouts. Kyle Greiner was given loss in two innings of work surrendering nine runs on 10 hits and two walks, recording one strikeout. In game two Seth Clement received the win tallying one perfect inning surrendering zero runs on zero hits and recording one strikeout, Brady Knittel (SR/West Portsmouth, Ohio) provided 1.2 innings of relief and surrendered no runs on two hits and three strikeouts. The group of Dylan Payne (FR/Columbus, Ohio), Austyn Goodwin (SR/Lexington, Kentucky), Joe Loyd (JR/Bidwell, Ohio) and Casey Claflin all three added an inning of scoreless work to contribute to the SSU shutout. The losing pitcher in game two was Jacob Chester who threw 5.2 innings surrendered four runs on five hits and had two strikeouts.
The two victories lift Shawnee State University to 11-8 on the season.
Shawnee State baseball remains home this week, Tuesday March 13th with a double header against Bluefield College. First pitch of game one from Branch Rickey Park is set for 1:00pm.
