Box Score AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Freshmen Genesis Hillard (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Chris Sackett (Loveland, Ohio) combined for seven of Ohio Dominican's 14 hits as the baseball team bested Winona State 11-9 on Thursday afternoon.
The Panthers also drew 10 walks in the game as they improved to 6-2-1 on the year.
Hillard went 4-for-5 at the dish with three RBIs while Sackett finished 3-for-4 with a walk. Sophomore Lee Sponseller (Mason, Ohio) had two hits, drew three walks and scored three runs while sophomore Cody Paterniti (Chardon, Ohio) and freshman Gage Taylor (South Lebanon, Ohio) each drew a pair of walks.
The Panthers struck quickly with three runs in the top of the first. Hillard smacked an RBI triple and scored on a passed ball, and sophomore Justin Childers (Pickerington, Ohio) hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Sponseller.
WSU answered with two runs in the bottom half, but ODU crept away in the fifth. Benefiting from three straight walks to start the inning, the Panthers scored four times, highlighted by RBI basehits from sophomore Max Banke (Oakwood, Ohio) and Hillard to pull in front 8-3.
The Warriors pulled back to within 8-5 after the sixth inning, but the Panthers had answers in the seventh and eighth innings. Hillard had another RBI single to score Sackett in the seventh, and ODU put up two more runs in the eighth on Sponseller's RBI double and Sackett's run-scoring single.
That put the Panthers in front 11-5, but they had to sweat out anxious moments in the eighth as Winona scored four times and had the tying run on base before sophomore Matt Meihls (Fort Wayne, Ind.) ended the rally with a strikeout.
Freshman Brad Wilson (Alexandria, Ohio) then entered and worked the ninth to record his first save of the year.
Freshman Tim Eidens (Blacklick, Ohio) made his collegiate debut on the mound and was credited with the win after tossing 3.0 innings of relief, striking out four batters.
The Panthers take on Ohio Valley at 9:30 a.m. Friday as they continue their spring break trip.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
