By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Dayton, Ohio---The Owens Community College baseball team dropped a pair of games on the road to No. 16 Sinclair Community College today, with the first one coming in heartbreaking fashion.
In the first game, Owens received RBI singles from Zach Coffield (Eastwood/Bowling Green, Ohio) and Marcus Rozsa (All Saints Secondary/Whitby/Ontario, Canada) in the third inning, followed by an RBI single from Tyler Byerly (Washington Township/Crown Point, Ind.) in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead.
Sinclair, however, got one of those runs back in the home half of the fifth on a two-out error.
In the sixth, Owens starter Luke Whelpton (Vauxhall/Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) escaped a two-out bases loaded jam and Owens took a two run lead to the final inning.
After his offense was held scoreless in the top of the seventh, Whelpton struck out Sinclair's leadoff hitter. However, Jimmy Young walked on five pitches, and Alex White followed with a two-run homer to left on a 2-1 pitch that tied the game.
Whelpton allowed a walk and a single to left in the next two at bats before Blake Kuszmaul (Bryan/Bryan, Ohio) relieved him. Following a walk to load the bases, Eric Hansman hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to center to give Sinclair a 4-3 win.
Whelpton, who threw a little over 130 pitches in a near complete-game effort, fell to 1-2 with the loss. He allowed 10 hits, four runs (three earned) and five walks, while striking out four, over six and a third.
Kuszmaul faced just two batters in one-third of an inning.
Coffield led the Owens offense as the sophomore catcher went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Six others picked up one hit apiece.
Austin Eads picked up the win in relief for Sinclair. He didn't allow a hit or a walk while striking out one over two and one-third innings.
After stunning Owens to end the first game, Sinclair used the momentum to produce 11 runs over the first three innings of game two, including seven runs in the third inning, to pick up a 14-4 win.
Ardry Mercado (St. Raymond High School for Boys/Manhattan, N.Y.) started for Owens and fell to 1-1 this year with the loss. He allowed five hits, 11 runs (10 earned) and six walks over 2.1 innings. Tyler Huth (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) relieved him and allowed five hits, four runs and seven walks, while striking out five, over three plus innings.
Francis Vasquez (Norman Thomas, New York, N.Y.) was a bright spot offensively for Owens. The freshman second baseman went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI as Owens picked up two runs each in the third and fourth innings.
Casey Gose (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio) also had a multi-hit game as the freshman middle infielder went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Charlie Sipe (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Stephen Parker (Eisenhower/Shelby Township, Mich.) each added an RBI.
Jimmy White went 2-for-2 with three runs, three walks and four RBI to lead the Sinclair offense.
With the setbacks, Owens is now 6-8 overall and 0-4 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will be back in action against the University of Saint Francis at 2 p.m. on the road tomorrow.