COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team swept Capital University in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader by final scores of 11-2 and 8-3 at Huntington Park.
BW (23-12, 11-5 OAC) clinches a spot in the OAC Tournament for the seventh straight season after taking two against Capital (14-24, 5-11 OAC) at the home of the Cleveland Guardians' Triple A affiliate Columbus Clippers.
Game 1
Scoring Plays
- Top 3rd - Junior All-OAC center fielder Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City) tied it up with an RBI single up the middle
- Top 3rd - Senior Academic All-OAC third baseman Noah English (Perrysburg) laid down the sac bunt to give the Brown and Gold the lead
- Top 3rd - Junior Academic All-OAC second baseman Matt Terzola (Uniontown/Archbishop Hoban) lined one to the gap to drive in his first run of the day
- Top 3rd - Senior Academic All-OAC catcher Eric Coode (Painesville/Mentor) hit an infield fly but got some help from the wind allowing the ball to drop and two runs to score
- Top 4th - Ritlinger-Nirider smashed a three-run homer over the porch in right to bust it open for BW
- Top 5th - Junior All-OAC shortstop Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) got in on the action with an RBI double
- Top 8th - Sophomore first baseman Carson Petrecca (Willowick/Eastlake North) split the gap in right to put the Jackets in double-digits
- Top 8th - Sophomore designated hitter Colin West (Westborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) singled down the line to score Petrecca
At the Plate
- Ritlinger-Nirider finished 2-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored
- Petrecca and Kolenich each notched two hits and scored two runs
- Senior All-OAC left fielder Joey Marousek (North Royalton) was the fourth Jacket with a multi-hit game with a double and added a stolen base and a run scored
On the Mound
- Junior Academic All-OAC right-hander Brit Kostura (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian School) improves to 3-0 on the season after pitching seven innings where he struck out a career-high 12 batters and allowed only two runs on four hits and two walks
- Junior Academic All-OAC right-hander Kade Swisher (Berea/Berea-Midpark) closed out the game where he struck out two and walked three over two innings of relief
Game 2
Scoring Plays
- Top 1st - Ritlinger-Nirider got the second game going with an RBI single
- Top 1st - Sophomore designated hitter Ryan Gordon (Strongsville) brought in a run with a sac fly out to right
- Top 3rd - Kolenich lined a solo shot to the left field bleachers in Huntington Park
- Top 3rd - Ritlinger-Nirider went back-to-back with a homer out to left center to quiet the home crowd
- Top 7th - Ritlinger-Nirider unloaded on a mammoth 477-foot home run that left the park and scored two
- Top 9th - Ritlinger-Nirider capped off his career day at the plate with his fourth round-tripper of the day after a two-run shot off the scoreboard
At the Plate
- Ritlinger-Nirider went a perfect 4-for-4 with three home runs, six RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. He finished 6-for-8 with four homers and 10 RBI on the day and now leads the team with 34 RBI
- Senior right fielder Justin Carinci (Ajax, Ontario/Pickering) and Terzola each added two hits for the Brown and Gold
- Kolenich and Gordon each went 1-for-3 with an RBI
On the Mound
- Senior All-OAC right-hander Vince Dolcemaschio (Uniontown/Archbishop Hoban) went six innings where he allowed three runs on six hits and one walk but struck out nine on his way to his sixth win of the season
- Senior right-hander Patrick Straub (Naperville, Ill/Metea Valley) got the three-inning save where he struck out two and limited the Comets to only one run on two hits
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Tuesday, April 29 as they travel to Cleveland to take on Case Western Reserve University in a non-conference game at Nobby's Ballpark at 4 p.m.
