COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two late rallies led Ohio Dominican's baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Tiffin, taking game one 5-4 in extra innings and scoring a 13-6 win in game two under adverse weather conditions Sunday at Panther Valley.

ODU (10-7, 4-0 G-MAC) trailed 4-2 in the fifth inning of game one, tying it on a line drive, two-run homer to right by freshman Thomas Staab (Bellville, Ohio).

Freshman Manny Vorhees (Wapakoneta, Ohio) entered in the sixth and allowed two runners, but kept the Dragons off the board, then pitched a scoreless seventh as well.

ODU had the winning run on base in the bottom half of the frame, but couldn't push it across. However, Vorhees put up another zero on the board in the eighth, fanning the side.

The Panthers then loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half, and sophomore Tim Zeller (Mount Vernon, Ohio) lined a single to left field, scoring Vorhees with the winning run.

Zeller, who also hit a two-run homer in the second inning, finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Senior Noah Bland (Oberlin, Ohio) also had two hits for the Panthers.

Vorhees struck out five in his 3.0 innings of work, allowing one hit, while improving to 3-0 in relief.

The second game was also a back-and-forth affair and was tied at 6-6 going into the bottom half when the Panthers broke it open with seven runs.

Bland singled, freshman Zach Schone (Pataskala, Ohio) walked, as did Staab, to load the bases with no one out. Vorhees then ripped a two-run single to right-center to give ODU an 8-6 lead.

After a Tiffin error allowed Staab to score, senior Genesis Hillard (Cincinnati, Ohio) cranked a three-run shot to left-center, then Zeller followed with his own solo shot to left to cap the scoring.

The Panthers had jumped to a quick 3-0 lead as Staab scored on an error and junior Joey Machuga (Canfield, Ohio) delivered a two-run single in the first inning.

Tiffin tied it in the second inning, but an RBI single by senior Colin Kaucher (Toledo, Ohio) in the bottom half put ODU back in front.

The Dragons put up a tally of their own in the third to tie it at 4-4, and the score stayed that way until the fifth. Kaucher came in to score on a wild pitch and Hillard scored on a sac fly by Zeller to put ODU back in front, 6-4.

Tiffin answered back with two runs in the sixth to tie it, but Zeller left two runners on board by ending the frame with a fly out to set up ODU's big inning in the bottom half.

Vorhees, Kaucher, Machuga and Bland each had two hits to lead ODU, who has now won five straight games.

Ohio Dominican remains at home for a four-game series with Alderson Broaddus, beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at Panther Valley.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu