PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- As a collective unit from top to bottom, the hitting order for the Shawnee State baseball program has produced throughout the season in 2025.
In the early innings of both contests against the Georgetown Tigers' baseball program, Rob Ehlers' lineup produced in a big way.
Wyatt Haupt, who was part of a Shawnee State order that batted around in the opening inning of Game 1, drilled a first-inning grand slam as part of a six-run first frame that pushed the Bears to an 8-7 victory over Georgetown (Ky.), while Diego Mendoza followed up a five-run first inning in Game 2 by adding in two home runs in the final contest of the day to help SSU score a 10-8 triumph over the Tigers and sweep Friday's doubleheader affairs at Branch Rickey Park in Portsmouth.
Game Summaries
Shawnee State (24-14) ran its winning streak to six straight contests by getting 18 runs on 18 hits between the two games.
The Bears scored 13 of those 18 runs in the opening pair of innings in both contests, and scored 12 of their 18 runs with two outs against it in the doubleheader.
As a result of Shawnee State's offensive performance Friday, the Bears improved to a collective team batting average of .315 and now hold a .937 OPS as a group.
Game 1
In the opening inning of Game 1, Shawnee State wasted no time getting on the board -- as a leadoff single to left by Nolan Tressler was followed by an Eli Jones free pass and a sacrifice bunt by Diego Mendoza -- putting runners on second and third with just one gone in the frame.
Two batters later, Hunter Warner's single to straightaway center field scored a moving Tressler and Jones, and after back-to-back walks by Jace Parnin and Zach Gaspar, Wyatt Haupt uncorked easily the biggest hit of the contest by drilling a no-doubt home run over the left center field fence for a grand slam, giving Shawnee State an immediate 6-0 lead after the opening inning.
Tressler then led off the second inning with a leadoff single to right field, and after a groundout moved the leadoff hitter into scoring position, Mason Reid's base knock to center field drove in Tressler to push the Shawnee State advantage to a 7-0 count through two innings complete.
Georgetown rallied with six straight runs from the third through fifth innings of play to close within 7-6, but in the sixth, Shawnee State struck again as Tyler Lund's fifth triple of the year led to an Eli Jones RBI base knock that Lund scored on to give SSU an 8-6 lead.
The insurance run proved to be important -- as in the top of the seventh, Aidan Jbara's leadoff solo home run cut Shawnee State's advantage to 8-7. However, relief pitcher Carson Wireman -- who worked the final three-and-two-thirds innings of the contest, was able to work long relief and pick up the save by inducing two groundouts and getting Luis Sosa to strike out looking to secure the victory for Shawnee State in Game 1.
At the plate, Haupt (1-for-2, walk, home run, four RBI, run scored), Tressler (2-for-4, two runs scored), Jones (1-for-2, two walks, RBI, run scored), Warner (1-for-3, two RBI, run scored), Lund (1-for-3, triple, run scored), Gaspar (1-for-2, walk, run scored) and Reid (1-for-4, RBI) all reached the hit column in the contest.
Game 2
In its second contest, Shawnee State shot out to another large lead to begin the second affair -- as a hit batter and another walk by Eli Jones led to another sacrifice bunt by Diego Mendoza, putting Jones and Nolan Tressler on second and third to begin the contest for the second straight game.
Playing effective station-to-station baseball, each of the next four batters then reached after Mendoza's sacrifice bunt as Mason Reid dropped in a two-RBI shot that nestled itself perfectly into shallow left center field to score Tressler and Jones, while Hunter Warner singled to left to put Warner and Reid at first and second base. Jace Parnin and Zach Gaspar then followed with RBI singles to right -- scoring Reid and Warner -- and Haupt added in a RBI sacrifice fly to score Parnin, giving Shawnee State a 5-0 lead after the opening inning of work.
The next three innings, from an offensive standpoint for Shawnee State, were all centered around Mendoza. First, the catcher drilled a solo home run to right center field -- answering a Georgetown run in the top of the second with one of his own in the bottom of the frame, keeping Shawnee State's lead at five, 6-1. The veteran standout then drilled a no-doubt homer to left to add on -- pushing the Shawnee State advantage to a 8-2 count.
Georgetown plated three runs in the fifth and two tallies in the sixth to cut into the six-run deficit, but a fifth-inning RBI single by Haupt, which scored Zach Gaspar after a double the previous at-bat, and an eighth inning double steal that allowed Eli Jones to score proved Shawnee State with the insurance runs it needed to claim a 10-8 win in Game 2 and the doubleheader sweep along with it.
For the contest, Mendoza (3-for-3, two home runs, three RBI, sacrifice bunt) and Gaspar (3-for-4, double, RBI, run scored) enjoyed multi-hit performances while Haupt (1-for-3, sac fly, two RBI), Reid (1-for-4, walk, two RBI, run scored), Warner (1-for-4, walk, run scored) and Parnin (1-for-4, RBI, run scored) all reached the hit column in the Game 2 triumph.
Parnin also closed the deal and obtained the save, striking out both batters he saw to end the game, while Ryan Scott picked up the win on the mound in Game 2, striking out five batters in five innings of work.
Additional
The Bears (24-14, 11-9 River States Conference) will gear up for a huge River States Conference series against none other than archrival Rio Grande (17-26, 8-13 River States Conference) Friday, April 25 at 2 p.m. and Saturday, April 26 at 12 p.m. Shawnee State, which currently holds the No. 3 seed in the RSC Standings, is one of six teams in the conference battle vying for the final three spots in the conference tournament field.
A full version of the standings can be located here.
