Written by BW Athletic Communications Student Assistant Cody Duckworth '27

BEREA, Ohio – The No.15 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University baseball team swept Ohio Northern University in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader to end conference play for the 2026 regular season.

Both games were pitcher's duels with the first game being between senior left-hander Brit Kostura (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian School) and ONU's Asyln Farinelli with BW edging the game 2-0 thanks to two runs scored in the bottom of the first inning.

The second game was a battle between Drew Tolfree from ONU and a quartet of BW pitchers. ONU had a 2-0 lead for most of the game, thanks to runs in the third and fourth innings, before BW rallied in the bottom of the ninth as junior designated hitter Colin West (Westborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) hit a walk-off single to win the game 3-2 for the Brown and Gold to bring their record to 27-8 overall and 13-3 in the OAC.

 
Game One (BW 2-0)

Scoring Summary

Bottom 1^st – West hit an RBI groundout for the opening run of the game

Bottom 1^st – Junior first baseman Ryan Gordon (Strongsville) singled home a run to give BW a 2-0 lead

At the Plate

• Senior center fielder Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City) went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and a run scored
• West went 1-for-4 and had one RBI
• Gordon went 1-for-4 and added an RBI
• Senior right fielder Reid Fleming (Pickerington/North) went 1-for-3 with a single

 
On the Mound

•  Kostura pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and only allowed six runners to reach base
• Junior right-hander Matt Moscarino (Strongsville/Padua Franciscan) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out two batters and being credited with his first career save

Game Two (BW 3-2)

Scoring Summary

Top 3^rd – The Polar Bears took the lead thanks to a solo home run by Kyle Callahan

Top 4^th – An RBI double by ONU's Andrew Stechschulte pushed the Polar Bear lead to 2-0

Bottom 9^th - Senior third-baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) hit a two-run single to tie the game at 2

Bottom 9^th – West hit a walk-off RBI single to win the game for BW with a score of 3-2

At the Plate

• West went 1-for-3 with the walk-off RBI single and two walks
• Kolenich went 1-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored, and a walk
• Fleming went 1-for-4 with a run scored
• Junior catcher Mason Fixx (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) went 1-for-1 with a scored a run
• Gordon hit the only extra-base hit of the game for the Yellow Jackets with a double on 1-for-3 hitting
• Ritlinger-Nirider went 1-for-4 with a single and a walk

On the Mound

• Freshman right-hander Matthew Anzalone (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) pitched three innings, gave up one run, and struck out three batters
• Senior left-hander Nolan Kellicker (Dover) pitched an inning of relief, gave up a run and threw 21 pitches
•  Sophomore right-hander Sam Hoffman (Mentor/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) pitched two scoreless innings of relief, striking out one and only allowing one batter to reach base
• Junior right-hander Will Henderlich (Madison) pitched three scoreless innings, striking out seven, giving up only two hits and was credited with his first win on the season and the second in his career.

 
Up Next

The Yellow Jackets host the Spartans from Case Western Reserve University at Fisher Field on Wednesday, April 29^th, with the game scheduled to start at 3 p.m. The game can be streamed live on FloCollege.