By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College baseball team dropped both games of a home conference doubleheader to No. 9 Sinclair Community College today.
Game 1: Sinclair 8 Owens 3
Jake Norbut's (Grove City/Grove City, Ohio) three-run home run in the sixth inning wasn't enough as Sinclair jumped out to an 8-0 lead in today's first game.
Neither team was able to score until the fifth when Sinclair got a two-out double down the left field line to score a pair of runs.
Earlier in the game, Owens missed a chance to score when they had runners on second and third with one out, but Jake Wichlacz (Eisenhower/Macomb, Mich.) was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to first and Charlie Sipe (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) struck out to end the threat.
With a 3-0 lead, Sinclair opened the sixth inning with back-to-back walks with one out off Owens starter Ardry Mercado (St. Raymond High School for Boys/Manhattan, N.Y.). At that point, Blake Kuszmaul (Bryan/Bryan, Ohio) entered in relief, but things didn't get better as Sinclair produced seven straight singles off Kuszmaul to push its lead to eight.
Joe Szymanski (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio) entered after the seventh hit for his collegiate pitching debut. After walking the first batter he faced to load the bases, he got a groundout to end the inning.
With two outs in the home half, Zach Coffield (Eastwood/Bowling Green, Ohio) doubled, Jake Weshalek (Shrine Catholic/Royal Oak, Mich.) walked and Norbut homered to left on the first pitch he saw.
Szymanski stranded a runner at third in the seventh, but the Owens offense stranded two in the seventh as the game ended.
Daniel Sexton (6-0) got the complete game victory on the mound for Sinclair after allowing five hits, three runs and four walks over seven. He struck out five.
Mercado (2-2) took the loss for Owens. His final line included 5.1 innings, five hits, four runs, six walks and four strikeouts. Kuszmaul went 0.1 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs, while Szymanski went the final 1.1 innings. He didn't allow a hit or a run while walking two and striking out one.
Game 2: Sinclair 6 Owens 0
Owens stranded seven runners, including four in scoring position, while Sinclair produced three runs in the fifth and seventh innings in today's second game.
In the first, Owens loaded the bases with two outs, but Norbut struck out to end the inning. In the second and fourth innings, Owens produced two runners each inning, but stranded one in each. Then, in the seventh, Owens put three runners on the bases, but stranded runners at second and third to end the game.
The game was scoreless until the fifth when Sinclair scored three runs (two earned) off Owens starter Luke Whelpton (Vauxhall/Brandon, Manitoba, Canada). In the seventh, Sinclair added three more in a heated inning that included two close calls by the umpires.
Whelpton (2-3) took the loss in a complete game effort. In seven innings, he allowed seven hits, six runs (four earned) and four walks with four strikeouts.
Alex Anders (6-1) got the win for Sinclair. He allowed three hits and four walks while striking out seven over seven innings.
Notes
Owens (13-15, 4-10 OCCAC) and Sinclair (32-5, 9-1 OCCAC) will play two more at Owens tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m.