NASHVILLE – David Silva (Tontogany, Ohio) homered twice and Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) added a clutch home run as the Panthers went deep five times en route to a doubleheader split with nationally-ranked No. 6/3 Trevecca Nazarene on Sunday, March 20. 

The Panthers rallied for a late victory in the night cap, 9-8. ODU dropped the first game of the doubleheader, 13-3. 

GAME TWO 

The top five batters in the Panther lineup combined for 10 hits, including all five of the team's home runs. Brill and Michael Knapp (Elyria, Ohio) each registered three hits in the win. 

Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the top of the third inning, ODU posted five consecutive hits, a rally started with back-to-back homers from Silva and Knapp. Both Silva and Brennen Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) then went deep in the next frame as ODU led 6-2 through four complete. 

Brendan Hofacre (Chardon, Ohio) and Myles Martinez (Columbus, Ohio) combined to allow just two runs over the first six innings of action. Both struck out four batters in the contest.

The pitching staff lost command in the seventh though, as four walks ultimately led to four Trojan runs and a 6-6 stalemate. Trevecca added another run in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-6 advantage into the final frame.

Silva led off the ninth with a walk and Knapp followed with a single to place two runners on. Brill then came to the plate with the heroics, blasting a bomb over the left center fence to place ODU in front for good, 9-7. 

Brill, who entered on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, allowed one run in the ninth and the Trojans did have the go-ahead run at the plate with one out. The junior then recorded a strikeout before forcing a pop up to Silva to secure the 9-8 victory. The right-hander improves to 2-0 on the season. 

GAME ONE

The Panthers captured their first lead of the series in part due to a one-out double from Brill in the top of the second inning. Brill scored on an error in the next at-bat to place ODU in front 1-0. Trevecca though, responded with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. 

Jake Daniel (Troy, Ohio) pulled ODU within one run in the top of the fifth inning, 3-2, as a two-out single scored Silva. Again, TNU responded in the bottom half, this time scoring nine runs on six hits.

ODU pitching walked or hit a combined 13 Trojan batters, including five in the fifth inning. Overall, TNU sent 14 hitters to the plate in the fifth and led 12-2. 

The Panthers finished with six hits in the game, including three doubles. One of those extra-base hits came from Spencer Tammaro (New Albany, Ohio) in the top of the seventh and final inning. Austin Evans (Kings Mills, Ohio) drove in a run two batters later for what would be the final run of the contest. 

UP NEXT

Ohio Dominican is set to return home for a four-game series with Grand Valley State. The non-conference, three-day series is set to begin at 3 p.m., Friday, March 25. 

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu