Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State baseball suffered a sweep on Sunday afternoon, falling to Concordia (Mich.) 8-2 in game one and 5-4 in game two in their home opener at Branch Rickey Park.
Game one would start poorly as Concordia would take an early lead. Ben Balgaard would single to begin the game, and SSU starter Brady Knittel (SR/West Portsmouth, Ohio) would walk Jacob Maas. With one out, Omar Prieto would double to left field, driving in both runners to put the Cardinals up 2-0 early.
The Cardinals would tack on a run in the third inning, as a grounder from Blaine Milheim would be misplayed by Blake Marshall (JR/Lexington, Kentucky), allowing Maas to score. Concordia would then score two more runs in the fourth. Marshall Oetting would walk with two outs, and would score one batter later on his brother Micah Oetting's two-run homer to left field.
Concordia would put three more runs up in the sixth inning. Three straight singles from Ruben Rios, Justin Mercer and Marshall Oetting would drive Knittel from the game. Joe Loyd (JR/Bidwell, Ohio) would come on to replace him, but would be unable to hold the Cardinals. Micah Oetting would ground into a double play, allowing pinch runner Matthew Botti. Balgaard would then single and promptly steal second, and would score on Maas' single to make the score 8-0.
Shawnee State would get on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Levi Jones (JR/Millersburg, Ohio) would lead off with a single, and JT Boggs (SR/South Shore, Kentucky) would double to move him to third. With two outs, Blake Marshall would hit a grounder to second, but Balgaard's wild throw would allow Jones to score. SSU would also score one run in the bottom of the seventh, as Seth Clement (FR/Kissimmee, Florida) would score on Dalton Phillips (JR/Hastings, Michigan)' double, but the Bears would not mount a rally and fall 8-2.
Grant Steinborn would get the win for Concordia, allowing one run on three hits in one and two-thirds innings of work, striking out five. Brady Knittel took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits in five innings.
Game two would see Shawnee State take an early lead in the second inning. Casey Claflin (SR/Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) would begin a two out rally by being hit by a pitch. Courtesy runner Anthony Nichols (JR/Fargo, North Dakota) would reach second on a single by Joseph Campos (FR/Orlando, Florida). Nichols would reach third on Blake Marshall's single to right field, and would score when Jacob Maas misplayed the ball in right field, allowing SSU to take a 1-0 lead.
Concordia would rally back into the lead in the top of the third. Ben Balgaard would again begin the Concordia rally, reaching with one out on a hit by pitch. Balgaard would reach second on a Maas groundout, and would score on Blaine Milheim's single. Milheim would advance to second on the throw to the plate, and would score when Blake Marshall dropped Grant Steinborn's pop-up.
Shawnee State would re-take the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Dalton Phillips would single to lead off the inning, and Levi Jones would walk to put two on. With one out, Cameron Broughton (FR/Clermont, Florida) would pinch hit for Casey Claflin. A passed ball would allow the runners to advance to second and third, and Broughton would single to left-center to drive both home and give SSU a 3-2 lead.
Concordia would immediately respond again in the fifth. Balgaard would again reach to lead off the inning, singling to center on a flare to center. Maas would walk to put two on with nobody out, but Milheim's poor bunt would see Balgaard thrown out at third. However, Grant Steinborn would double to deep right-center, scoring both runners and putting the Cardinals up 4-3.
Shawnee State would again rally to tie the game. Clement and Gerhold would hit back-to-back singles to put two on. Phillips would hit a grounder to second, but Balgaard would throw wide of second base on the double play attempt, allowing Clement to score to tie the game at 4-4.
Concordia would score the winning run in the top of the seventh. Blaine Milheim would reach on Dalton Phillips' wild throw, getting to second base. Steinborn would then be intentionally walked. Omar Prieto would bunt the runners over, and a squeeze bunt by Ethan Vosburg would score Milheim to push across the winning run. Shawnee State would fail to score in the bottom of the seventh as the Cardinals escaped with the sweep.
Jacob Clark got the win in game two, allowing one run on three hits in three and two-thirds innings pitched. Jesse James (SR/Grayson, Kentucky) took the loss, allowing one run on one hit in one and two-thirds innings of relief.
The losses drops Shawnee State's record to 7-7 on the season. Concordia improves to 15-2 on the season.
Shawnee State baseball returns to action on Tuesday, March 6 when they play a single nine-inning game against Webber International (Fla.). First pitch is set for 6:30pm.
