No. 23 Baseball pounds out 16 base hits in 17-9 victory over Mt St Joseph
By Tim Glon
ADA -- No. 23-ranked Ohio Northern pounded out 16 base hits and posted a 17-9 victory over Mount Saint Joseph in a non-conference baseball game on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon at Wander Field.
The Polar Bears improve to 15-3. The Lions fall to 7-11.
Senior Jack LaMarca went 2-for-3 with four RBI to lead Ohio Northern's offense.
Northern picked up three runs in the bottom of the first. An RBI triple by junior Andy Lubonovic was the key hit in the rally.
ONU blew the game wide open with a 5-run third inning. A bases loaded walk by senior Brady Foley, a 2-run single by LaMarca and an RBI bunt single by Lubonovic were the big blows in the inning.
The Polar Bears tacked on a run in the fourth when freshman Brandon Kasberg singled home junior Nick Eltzroth to make it 9-1.
After MSJ scored four times in the fifth frame to pull within 9-5, ONU got an unearned run in the fifth to go up 10-5.
Northern then scored three times in the sixth to extend its lead to 14-5 on a run-scoring double by junior Clay Small, a 2-run double by LaMarca and an RBI double by freshman Hayden Shenefield.
Freshman Braydon Focht delivered a pinch-hit single to score senior Dan Belliveau to make it 15-5 in the seventh.
Junior Ben Eckert improved to 2-0, pitching one inning of relief to earn the win.
The Polar Bears are slated to play again on Friday with an Ohio Athletic Conference double header at John Carroll.