By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Sylvania, Ohio---Three players made their collegiate pitching debuts for the Owens Community College baseball team in impressive fashion as the Express picked up a doubleheader sweep on the road over Lourdes University's JV team at CYO Mercy Field.
Game 1: Owens 3 Lourdes University JV 1
The pitching duo of Sam Hackney (Edgewood/Trenton, Ohio) and Alex Samson (Orrville/Orrville, Ohio) held the Gray Wolves to just one run in a game one victory.
Offensively, the Express scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh. They swiped seven bases and produced seven hits.
In the fifth, Alec Skender (Metamora/Metamora, Ill.) hit a sacrifice fly to right for the game's first run. Payton Scott (Mississinewa/Gas City, Ind.) then got a two-out RBI single in the sixth before Tiger Jaso (Lakota/Kansas, Ohio) picked up his first collegiate homer, a solo shot to left, in the seventh.
With a three-run lead, Samson took over for Hackney in the seventh. In his first collegiate pitching appearance, he allowed an RBI double to right, but picked up the save.
Hackney (1-0), who took a no-hitter into the fifth before it was broken up by former Owens player Sean Koerber, only gave up two hits, while walking four and striking out six.
On offense, the Express got stolen bases from Jaso, Ardian Selmani (Southview/Sylvania, Ohio), Michael Finch (Norwalk/Norwalk, Ohio), Scott, Kody McCall (Edgewood/Trenton, Ohio) and Tyler Byerly (Washington Township/Crown Point, Ind.). Finch swiped two bases, while the other five each had one.
Finch led the team in hits as he finished 2-for-3 with a run, while Byerly, Scott, Taran Temple (Delta/Muncie, Ind.), Jaso and Marcus Rozsa (All Saints Secondary/Whitby, Ontario, Canada) each picked up one hit apiece. Jaso's homer was the lone extra base hit among those.
Koerber, a former Express pitcher, started and played first base for Lourdes. He picked up two of his team's four hits, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk.
Behind the plate, Rozsa gunned down one of two base stealers.
Game 2: Owens 8 Lourdes University JV 2
Derek Hafner (Central Catholic/Toledo, Ohio) picked up the win, while the Express offense plated eight runs to sweep the doubleheader.
Finch, Selmani and Justin Curry (Anthony Wayne/Whitehouse, Ohio) paced the Express offense with two hits apiece. Finch finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, Curry finished 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs, and Selmani finished 2-for-3 with a run. Rozsa, Scott, Skender and Jaso picked up the team's other four hits.
In the first, Rozsa's RBI single through the middle put the Express up 1-0. They added three more runs in the second on a sacrifice fly from Jaso, an RBI single by Skender and a wild pitch.
The lead stretched to seven in the fifth when McAtee's sacrifice fly, Curry's RBI single and Finch's RBI double plated three more.
The Gray Wolves then answered with single runs in the fifth and sixth to trim their deficit to five before the Express added their final run in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Curry.
On the mound, the Express went with the Johnny Wholestaff approach as Byerly and Anthony Perez (Orrville/Orrville, Ohio) each made their collegiate pitching debuts - in impressive fashion.
Hafner (1-5) started and went the first four innings to pick up the win. He allowed two hits and one walk while striking out three in his best performance of the season. The win was the first of his collegiate career after missing last season.
Byerly followed him and threw two innings. He allowed four hits, two runs and two strikeouts. Perez then closed out the game in the seventh with back-to-back-to-back strikeouts.
The Express added two more stolen bases in the second game from Skender and Byerly, while Finch picked up two doubles for the team's only extra base hits.
Nathan Scanlon started for the Gray Wolves and took the loss. He went two innings and allowed four hits, four runs and three walks. Zach Zsolcsak, Josh Lorda and Kurt Kolbow also pitched for the home team, who only produced one strikeout in the second game against the Express offense.
Wrap Up
The Express are now 17-23 overall with their non-league wins today. They have won seven of their past eight games and will be back in action on Thursday at home with a single, nine-inning game against Macomb Community College at 2 p.m. They will then close out the regular season with a four-game weekend series at Lakeland on Friday and Saturday.