COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican baseball rallied from a rough opening frame to surge past the Cedarville Yellow Jackets, earning an 11-6 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Frank Damian Field. A strong all-around pitching performance and a powerful day at the plate led the way for the Panthers, who improve to 10-20 and 4-9 on the season.
Cedarville jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of a pair of Panther miscues and timely hitting. But Ohio Dominican settled in from there, chipping away with two runs in the second and fifth innings and single runs in the fourth and sixth innings before exploding for five runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Junior Mason Kurtz led the offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, belting a solo home run and adding a double, two RBIs, and a stolen base. Redshirt sophomore CJ Dean provided a major spark as well, walking twice, stealing two bases, and launching a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth to give ODU a 5-4 lead at that point.
Drew Emerson, Dean, and Kurtz each homered in the win, marking one of the Panthers' strongest power-hitting performances of the season. Emerson's three-run blast in the eighth was the exclamation point on a five-run inning that sealed the comeback victory.
Emerson was clutch in the DH spot, collecting three hits, including that eighth-inning home run, and drove in a team-high three runs on the day.
After starter Jared Hoersten settled down from the rocky first inning to toss five solid innings (one earned run, four strikeouts), the Panther bullpen took over. Gavin Mangus, Steven Chapman, and Andrew Mouch combined to allow just one hit over the final four innings, with Chapman picking up the win in relief to move to 2-2 on the year.
Ohio Dominican totaled eight hits and swiped six bases, using their speed at the plate (five walks, two hit-by-pitches) to pressure Cedarville's pitching and defense.
The Panthers will look to carry the momentum into the remainder of their games against Cedarville.
Please note that potential weather conditions may impact the time and location of the next contest—stay tuned to Ohio Dominican Athletics for the latest updates.
