COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's baseball team fell by scores of 6-3 and 15-12 to visiting Tiffin on Saturday afternoon in GLIAC play from Panther Valley.

With the losses, ODU fell to 24-23 (15-15 GLIAC) and now sits one game behind Hillsdale for the sixth and final GLIAC Tournament spot with two games left to play.

In game one, ODU jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning as junior Justin Childers (Pickerington, Ohio) hit a line drive homer over the wall in left center.

The Dragons answered with two runs in the second inning, but ODU plated a pair of runs of its own in the third. Senior Kyle Burson (Brunswick, Ohio) walked with the bases loaded to force in a run, and a Tiffin error allowed sophomore Colin Kaucher (Toledo, Ohio) to score to make it 3-2.

But Tiffin scored three times in the top of the fourth and tacked on an insurance run in the sixth to go in front 6-3.

ODU was limited to just seven hits in the opener.

In game two, the Panthers fell behind 9-0 in the third inning, but mounted a comeback, starting in the bottom half of the inning.

Burson singled and sophomore Noah Bland (Oberlin, Ohio) tripled him home. Junior Cody Paterniti (Chardon, Ohio) followed with a sacrifice fly, and after singles by junior Lee Sponseller (Mason, Ohio) and senior Tony Evans (Medway, Ohio), Childers hit a sacrifice fly and Kaucher an RBI single to make it a 9-4 game.

The Panthers made it a one-run game with another big inning in the fifth. Kaucher had an RBI single, freshman Joey Machuga (Canfield, Ohio) hit a sacrifice fly, and sophomore Genesis Hillard (Cincinnati, Ohio) roped a double down the left field line to score Kaucher. Burson followed with a single through the left side of the infield to bring ODU within 9-8.

The Dragons pulled away with a five-run sixth inning, but the Panthers mounted two more rallies. In the eighth inning, Bland and Paterniti doubled, Sponseller walked and Evans singled to start the inning. Childers and Kaucher then had RBI singles to bring ODU to within 15-12 as the first seven hitters of the inning reached safely, but ODU could do no more damage in the frame, leaving two runners in scoring position.

In the ninth, Bland singled to start the inning. Paterniti lined out to left center, and with two outs, Evans was also robbed of a hit with a sliding catch on the warning track by Dragon center fielder Mitch Anderson to end the game.

The Panthers tallied 17 hits in the game, led by Kaucher and Bland with three apiece. Evans, Childers, Burson and Paterniti each had two hits, and Sponseller had a hit and drew two walks, scoring three times.

Ohio Dominican will finish the regular season with two games at Tiffin on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu