By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Myrtle Beach, SC---Despite a 1-3 finish to their spring trip, the Express played a couple close games and got outstanding play from sophomore infielder Joe Sickler.
March 8: Owens 5 Olney Central College 4
Down 4-3 entering the bottom half of the seventh, the Express got a run to tie the game and a walk-off hit from Sickler in the eighth to win 5-4.
Olney Central took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third with three hits and a walk off Express starter Chris Ward.
Owens answered back with two in the bottom half as they hit for the cycle in the inning. Nate Manis singled with one out before Sickler hit a two-run shot to make it 3-2. Ryan Horvath then doubled, but was caught stealing prior to a triple by Myles Debol.
Olney added one in the fifth to make it 4-2 before the Express, once again, cut their deficit to one in the bottom half. Horvath tripled with one out and scored on a groundout by Debol.
The Express tied it at four in the seventh when Manis singled leading and Debol hit a two-out run scoring double. Then, in the eighth, James Moore Jr., Travis Tackett and Manis all walked to load the bases with no outs. Sickler then singled to score Moore and give the Express a 5-4 win.
Sickler finished the game 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs, Debol finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Horvath was 2-for-4 with a run, and Manis was 2-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base.
Ward went the first five innings for the Express and allowed six hits, four runs and three walks while striking out one. Davis (1-0) got the win with three innings of relief. He allowed only one hit and one walk.
March 8: Danville Area 4 Owens 3
After getting a walk-off win in their first game of the day, the Express experienced the opposite in a 4-3 loss to Danville Area.
Zak Esposito went five strong innings as he allowed five hits, two runs (one earned) and one walk while striking out five. In his final inning, he struck out Danville's clean up hitter with the bases loaded to preserve a 3-2 lead for the Express.
Owens would maintain that lead until the bottom of the seventh when Danville got a two-run single from their cleanup hitter with two outs to win the game in walk-off fashion.
The Express had taken a 2-0 lead in the third on a two-run triple from Horvath. They added their third run in the fifth when Sickler singled with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, to third on a groundout and scored on another wild pitch.
Clayton Ruch (0-1) took the loss in relief as he went 1.2 innings and allowed three hits, two runs and one walk while striking out two. Sickler and Horvath led the Express offensively. Sickler finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored, while Horvath was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
March 9: John Wood 2 Owens 1
The Express played their third consecutive one run game and experienced their second consecutive loss in dropping a 2-1 decision to John Wood.
John Wood struck first with two runs in the fifth inning off Express starter Andrew Joseph (0-2), who finished with 4.2 innings pitched while allowing three hits, two runs and six walks. He struck out five.
The Express would move within one in the top of the sixth when Sickler walked to lead off, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Hotmer.
The Express went down 1-2-3 in the seventh, though, to end the game.
Sickler led Owens offensively as he went 1-for-2 with a run and a stolen base. Alex Juday pitched the final 2.1 innings for Owens and allowed only one hit while striking out one.
March 10: Delaware Tech 6 Owens 2
Express starter Jeff Davis experienced a tough second inning in a 6-2 loss to Delaware Tech.
After the Express had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Davis (0-2) faced the minimum in the bottom half, but gave up four hits, six runs and one walk in the second. The game didn't feature any scoring after that.
In the top of the first, the Express got back-to-back singles to lead off the inning from Horvath and Logan Shullick. An RBI single from Hotmer scored Horvath, and a double steal by Shullick and Hotmer produced the second run.
Garrett Scott relieved Davis on the mound to end the second. Sean Koerber, Jesse Castilleja and Adam Jones all saw action in relief, as well. Those four combined to allow only five hits, zero runs and zero walks while striking out two. Castilleja produced the two strikeouts.
Hotmer led the Express at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Notes
The Express (1-10) didn't fare well on paper during their spring trip, but played four games against NJCAA D-I No.3 Louisburg College and three games against NJCAA D-I No. 25 USC-Sumter. Following that, they played three run one games and lost two of them.
Owens will play their first home doubleheader this Wednesday beginning at 3 p.m. against Ashland University JV.