Box Score CEDARVILLE, Ohio – A trio of three run innings propelled Ohio Dominican's baseball team to an 11-6 non-conference win over Cedarville on Wednesday.
The Panthers moved to 10-6 with the win, while the Yellow Jackets – who earlier this spring defeated No. 1 Tampa – fell to 9-9.
Seven Panthers had two or more hits as ODU finished with 16 knocks on the day. Freshman Lee Sponseller (Mason, Ohio) extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games with his 3-for-5, three RBI performance at the dish.
Senior Marcus Schluessler (Zanesville, Ohio) had two hits, including a three-run homer in the ninth to put the game away, and junior Colman Fitzgerald (Centerville, Ohio) had three runs, two hits and two RBI.
After going down quietly in the first and second innings and falling behind 2-0, ODU took control in the third. Sophomore Tony Evans (Medway, Ohio) had an RBI grounder that scored Kyle Suminski (Fraser, Mich.), Fitzgerald had an RBI basehit to score Schluessler, then scored later himself on a Cedarville error to give ODU a 3-2 lead.
The Panthers scored three more runs in the fifth, as Fitzgerald, Sponseller and Suminski each had RBI basehits to extend the lead to 6-2.
In the sixth inning, Sponseller's two-run double to left scored Fitzgerald and Evans to make it 8-3, but the Yellow Jackets responded with three runs of their own in the seventh to draw within 8-6.
Freshman Joe Filosa (Fort Wayne, Ind.) struck out a pair of batters in the eighth, though, and Schluessler hit an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left in the top of the ninth with two outs to make it 11-6.
Senior Vince Bartolone (Broadview Heights, Ohio) worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game.
Evans, Tisdale, Suminski and freshman Justin Childers (Pickerington, Ohio) each recorded a pair of hits for the Panthers.
Freshman Matt Kittelberger (Massillon, Ohio) pitched four innings for ODU in the victory.
The Panthers return to conference action this weekend a four-game series at home against Ashland this weekend, starting at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
