COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's baseball team rallied for a 12-10 win in Saturday's G-MAC opener with Kentucky Wesleyan, but couldn't get the timely hits it needed in game two as ODU fell 5-2 in the nightcap.

ODU, ranked No. 15 in the country, is now 20-5 (9-1 G-MAC). The win in the opener stretched its streak to 12 straight games, the longest streak since ODU also won a dozen straight in the 2002 season.

In game one, ODU found itself down 3-0 before its first at bat, but sent 12 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, scoring eight times. Junior Colin Kaucher (Toledo, Ohio) and sophomore Joey Machuga (Canfield, Ohio) each had RBI singles, while senior Max Banke (Oakwood, Ohio) and Cody Paterniti (Chardon, Ohio) tallied RBI grounders to make it 5-3.

Junior Brad Hull (Gahanna, Ohio) later had an RBI single and senior Justin Childers (Pickerington, Ohio) pounded an RBI triple to right-center, then scored on a balk to extend the lead to 8-3.

Kentucky Wesleyan countered with seven unanswered runs between the fourth and sixth innings to grab a 10-8 lead, but ODU struck back in the bottom of the sixth.

Childers and junior Jace Komminsk (Westerville, Ohio) walked to start the inning, and Kaucher cranked a three-run shot to left-center to put ODU back in front, 11-10.

Senior Dustin Cowart (Hoover, Ala.) then set KWC down in order in the seventh, and Childers followed in the bottom half with an RBI base hit back up the middle to score Paterniti and put ODU on top 12-10.

Freshman Tim Zeller (Mount Vernon, Ohio) worked around a walk and a one-out single to punch out the last two batters of the eight, and junior Brad Wilson (Alexandria, Ohio) closed it out in the ninth to pick up his sixth save of the season. Cowart was credited with the win, improving to 3-0, as he has yet to allow a run this season.

ODU finished with 16 hits in the game, led by a 4-for-4 performance at the dish by Childers, who also drew a walk and scored three runs. Kaucher went 3-for-5 with four driven in and Machuga finished 3-for-5, while Bland also had two hits for the Panthers and Komminsk drew two walks and scored twice.

The Panthers then racked up 10 more hits in game two, but left nine runners on base in suffering their first conference loss.

KWC scored three times in the second and once more in the third to build a 4-0 lead. ODU left two runners on in the first and threatened but hit into a double play to end the third, and left two more on in the fifth.

ODU finally broke through in the scoring column in the sixth as junior Chris Sackett (Loveland, Ohio) and Banke each singled and Hull hit a chopper that went over the first baseman's head into right to score both and make it 4-2. However, ODU left two on in that inning, then went down in order in the seventh to suffer the loss.

Junior Joe Filosa (Fort Wayne, Ind.) came out of the bullpen and worked 4.0 terrific innings, allowing just three hits and one unearned run while striking out three.

Kaucher went 2-for-3 with a walk and Komminsk finished 2-for-4 at the plate.

Ohio Dominican will play a non-conference doubleheader at West Liberty at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu