TIFFIN, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers (6-11, 0-2 G-MAC) baseball team kicked off conference play with a doubleheader against the Tiffin Dragons (10-8, 2-0 G-MAC) on Friday (March 14) afternoon.
On a windy day at Heminger Field, the Panthers blasted seven home runs in a pair of 11-8 defeats.
Gianni Passarelli went deep three times in the twinbill.
Game 1 (L, 11-8)
- The scoring started out early with two runs coming off the bat of Passarelli. He drilled a two-run home run to left center field in the top of the first inning.
- Tiffin cut the lead in half with a leadoff home run in the first inning.
- The game remained 2-1 until the fifth inning when the Panthers went deep twice. Jake Scherette led off with a solo home run to right center. Following a single and two walks, Passarelli stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Passarelli cleared them with a grand slam to left field as ODU led 7-1 at the midway point of the game.
- The Dragons scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, closing the gap to 7-4.
- A solo homer in the seventh inning and six runs in the eighth inning for Tiffin erased the lead and put the Dragons ahead 11-7.
- Ohio Dominican had a chance for a last minute rally in the ninth. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs. Drew Emerson walked home a run but the Panthers left the bases loaded to end the game, falling 11-8.
- The Panthers totaled ten hits in the game with four extra-base hits (three home runs). Passarelli had two hits - accounting for six RBI (tied for 5th most in a single game for the Division II era) with two runs scored. CJ Dean and Mason Kurtz also had two hits in the game.
- ODU walked 13 times with Emerson walking three times and Passarelli and Noah Schacht walking twice each.
- Trayce Mercer started and pitched five innings with four runs allowed (one earned). He scattered five hits and three walks while striking out three. Gavin Mangus followed with two innings of relief work, giving up two runs. Jeremy Ramirez took the loss, allowing five runs in his one inning pitched.
Game 2 (L, 11-8 in 7 innings)
- Tiffin jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run double.
- Dean and Steven Chapman delivered back-to-back blasts to left-center field in the second inning. Kurtz added a RBI single while Emerson closed the four-run second with a RBI double. ODU led 4-2.
- The Dragons answered with five runs in the second, regaining a 7-4 lead.
- The lead was short-lived as a pair of blasts put the Panthers back in front. Passarelli hit his third home run of the day - a two-run shot to left-center. Three batters later, Scherette tallied his second homer of the day, another two-run home run as the Panthers led 8-7.
- Two runs for the Dragons in the fourth and fifth inning closed the scoring at 11-8.
- With eight hits, seven of the nine starters entered the hit column. Kurtz was the only players with multiple hits. Four Panthers went deep as they combined for five extra-base hits.
- Landon Ringhiser gave up nine runs in four innings as the starter, falling to 1-3. Garrett Roach surrendered two runs in two innings as the lone reliever.
The series will continue on Tuesday (March 18) after weather postponed the final day. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
