By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Fort Wayne, Ind.---Charlie Sipe (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) blasted a three-run home run in the third inning, but the Owens Community College baseball team dropped a 6-5 decision on the road to the University of Saint Francis JV team today.

Sipe's home run came after Casey Gose (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio) led off the third with a HBP. Zach Coffield (Eastwood/Bowling Green, Ohio) followed with a single before Sipe put it over the fence.

Owens starter Grant Peters (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) allowed a run in the fourth, and then his offense gave him two more runs in the fifth.

Marcus Rozsa (All Saints Secondary/Whitby, Ontario, Canada) led off with a HBP. One out later, Jake Wichlacz (Eisenhower/Macomb, Mich.) walked to put a pair on. Then, over the next three at bats, Owens produced two RBI singles - one from Joe Szymanski (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio) and the other from Robbie Walker (Snider/Fort Wayne, Ind.) to take a 5-1 lead.

Saint Francis, however, chased Peters with a four-run sixth inning. Blake Kuszmaul (Bryan/Bryan, Ohio) relieved him with two outs and three runs scored in the inning, but gave up the game-tying single before inducing an inning ending groundout to short. 

After each team was held scoreless in the seventh, Saint Francis put across the winning run in the eighth. Kuszmaul started the inning with a walk before being replaced by Jake Schmeltz (Eastwood/Perrysburg, Ohio). Despite retiring the next two batters, a passed ball and a two-out single pushed across the go-ahead run for the home team.

In the ninth, Owens got a two-out runner in Szymanski via an error, but a strikeout ended the game.

Kuszmaul (0-2) took the loss in his 1.1 innings of relief. He walked two, hit one batter and gave up one hit while facing eight batters. The run he gave up was unearned, though.

The final line for Peters included 5.2 innings, five hits, five runs (four earned), three walks, two hit batters and seven strikeouts. Schmeltz pitched to four batters and allowed one hit while striking out one.

Owens (6-9) is scheduled to travel to Sylvania, Ohio for a doubleheader against Lourdes University's JV team on Wednesday.

Notes

Today's action was originally scheduled as two seven inning games, but was switched to a single nine inning game.

Sipe's home run was his second of the season.