Box Score COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior Jacob Horsley (Thornville, Ohio) lined a 1-2 pitch into right field for a walkoff single, lifting Ohio Dominican's baseball team to a 5-4 win in 11 innings over visiting Wayne State in a non-conference matchup at Panther Valley.
Freshman Justin Childers (Pickerington, Ohio) legged out a double to start the 11th inning and easily scored the winning run on Horsley's ball down the line.
The victory was the fourth straight for the Panthers, who improved to 20-15 and are now a season-best five games over .500. ODU has won seven of its last eight games and has now won all four of its extra inning games.
A disjointed game saw a total of 21 hits and 19 walks between the two teams. ODU stranded 17 runners on base in the win, while Wayne State (18-19-1) left 15 runners on base.
The Panthers scored single runs in each of the first three innings. Freshman Lee Sponseller (Mason, Ohio) smoked a two-out RBI double in the first to score junior Colman Fitzgerald (Centerville, Ohio). Freshman Max Banke (Oakwood, Ohio) hit an RBI single into left field in the second inning to bring home senior Marcus Schluessler (Zanesville, Ohio), and a fielder's choice grounder in the third scored Fitzgerald to give ODU a 3-1 lead.
Wayne State cut it to 3-2 in the fourth, but ODU put up a run in the sixth inning on an RBI basehit through the right side of the infield by senior Kyle Suminski (Fraser, Mich.).
The Warriors, though, plated two runs in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4, and ODU left a pair of runners on board in the seventh and eighth innings to keep the game tied.
Wayne State put two runners on with one out in the 10th, but senior Vince Bartolone (Broadview Heights, Ohio) entered and got a shallow fly out to left and a diving catch by Childers in foul ground at first base to end the inning.
The Panthers then loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but could not score, and Wayne State also left two potential go-ahead runs in scoring position in the 11th as Bartolone escaped trouble with a fly out to center to allow ODU the chance to walk it off in the bottom of the frame.
Fitzgerald went 3-for-4 with a walk to lead the offense as ODU outhit Wayne State 13-8. Suminski and Childers each had two hits, while Sponseller and Horsley each drew a pair of walks to go along with their hits.
Bartolone picked up the win with his 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. He improved to 4-0 on the season.
Senior Austin Monnin (Napoleon, Ohio) started and allowed two runs on four hits in 3.2 innings. Freshman Matt Kittelberger (Massillon, Ohio) went 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and freshman Matt Meihls (Fort Wayne, Ind.) worked 4.1 innings and allowed two runs while striking out three.
Ohio Dominican plays host to Tiffin in a GLIAC doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Panther Valley.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
