Written by BW Athletic Communications Student Assistant Cody Duckworth '27

BEREA, Ohio – The No. 16 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University baseball team split a doubleheader with No. 10 University of Mount Union in an Ohio Athletic Conference showdown on the turf of Fisher Field.

It was a battle in both games between the two top teams in the conference, with Mount Union edging the first game 4-3 in 10 innings. The second game fared better for BW, led by senior center fielder Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City), who hit three home runs for the second time in his career. The final score was 15-8 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. This brings BW's record to 19-6 overall with a 6-2 OAC record.

Game One (Mount Union, 4-3, 10 Inn.)

Scoring Summary

• Bottom 5th - Senior third-baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) hit an RBI double to put BW on the board to cut the Mount Union lead in half

• Bottom 5th – Kolenich scored on an error by the Mount second baseman to tie the game at two

• Bottom 10th – Junior Aiden Dunlap (Irwin, Pa./Hempfield Area) came in to pinch hit and hit an RBI on a groundout to pull within a run with one out 

 At the Plate

•  Kolenich went 1-for-5 with a double and an RBI

• Ritlinger-Nirider went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks

• Junior second-basemen Carson Petrecca (Willowick/Eastlake North) went 1-for-3 and added two walks

• Senior Brady Bly (Mason/William Mason) pinch-hit and went 1-for-1, collecting his third hit of the season

On the Mound

• Junior right-hander Matt Moscarino (Strongsville/Padua Franciscan) pitched five innings, allowed two runs, and struck out three

• Senior right-hander Tyler Walker (Fairlawn/Copley) pitched five innings, struck out three and allowed two runs

Game Two (BW 15-8)

Scoring Summary

Bottom 1st – Ritlinger-Nirider hit a solo home run to open the scoring for the game

Bottom 3rd – Kolenich increased the BW lead to two with a solo home run

Bottom 3rd - Ritlinger-Nirider hit his second solo shot of the game to give BW a 3-0 lead

Bottom 5th – Kolenich hit a sacrifice fly for BW's fourth run of the game

Bottom 6th - Junior first-baseman Ryan Gordon (Strongsville) hit an RBI double for Yellow Jacket run number five

Bottom 6th – A passed ball allowed Gordon to score and give BW a 6-1 lead

Bottom 6th - Junior catcher Mason Fixx (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) got an RBI when he was walked with the bases loaded

Bottom 6th - Senior shortstop Matt Terzola (Uniontown/Archbishop Hoban) hit a two RBI single to bring the score to 9-1

Bottom 6th -  A triple by Kolenich brought home two more runs for the Brown and Gold

Bottom 6th - Ritlinger-Nirider singled home Kolenich to give BW a 12-1 lead

Bottom 8th - Sophomore catcher Yuri Bellina (Medina/Padua Franciscan) hit a two-run home run to bring the score to 14-3 in BW's favor

Bottom 8th - Ritlinger-Nirider hit his third solo home run of the game for run number 15 for BW

At the Plate

• Ritlinger-Nirider went 4-for-5 with four RBI and three solo home runs

•  Senior right-fielder Reid Fleming (Pickerington/North) went 3-for-4 with three singles, a walk, and two runs scored

• Kolenich went 2-for-3 with a triple and a home run and added four RBI

• Terzola also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with two RBI

• Bellina went 1-for-1 with a two-run home run

 On the Mound

• Senior left-hander Brit Kostura (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian School) pitched eight innings, allowed three runs, and struck out six on 120 pitches; He was credited with his sixth win on the season

Up Next

The Yellow Jackets travel to New Concord, Ohio to take on Muskingum University at Mose Morehead Field in an OAC doubleheader with the games slated to start at 1 and 4 p.m. Fans can catch all the action live on FloCollege.