Wolverines Hit Four Long Balls; Drop Weekend WHAC Slate
UM-Dearborn takes on Rochester Christian on Wednesday (Apr. 17).
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. -- The University of Michigan-Dearborn baseball team dropped four games this weekend against two of the top teams in the WHAC. UM-Dearborn lost two to Lawrence Tech (21-12, 13-5) on Saturday and two to UNOH on Sunday (28-9, 19-2).
In game one, the Blue Devils scored an early run in the first inning, but the Wolverines would respond with three runs over the next two innings to take a 3-1 lead. The scoring started with a Max McLennan two-run shot in the first to score Mark Schaaf. Schaaf flew out to deep center field in the second to score Matthew Balash on the play. The Blue Devils would score four runs in the fourth inning and a single run in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. UM-Dearborn would cut into the deficit in the fifth when Carter Stephenson singled through the right side to score McLennan, making it 6-4. In the sixth, LTU would put the game out of reach when they added two runs on a fielder's choice and a double play to expand their lead to 8-4. Gavin Hampton hit a deep fly in the seventh to make it 8-6, but the Wolverine offense would not be able to plate another run in the seven-inning contest.
Game two was highlighted by a pair of RBI base knocks from Matthew Williams, who went 2-3 with a double. The Blue Devils plated 17 runs to put the mercy rule into effect after the seventh inning, taking game two 17-3.
On Sunday, both offenses came out of the gate looking to do damage, as the Wolverines scored in each of the first four innings. Stephenson plated the game's first run on an RBI double to right field, scoring McLennan on the play. UNOH would score three runs in the bottom half to make it 3-1. In his second at-bat in as many innings, McLennan beat out an infield single to the shortstop, scoring Drake Schultz and cutting the Racer lead in half. The Wolverines would tie the game at five after a SAC fly from Schultz in the third and RBIs from Stephenson and Forner in the fourth. Stephenson was 2-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. UNOH would go on to win game one 11-5.
The Wolverines led 7-0 after two and a half innings. A pair of home runs from Williams and Beck Kjeldbjerg helped the Wolverines to an early advantage. Despite the efforts, the Racers would score 13 unanswered runs over the final seven innings to sweep the Wolverines.
