Foresters win two on opening day

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Forester baseball team picked up a pair of wins, 11-0, 4-3, Friday afternoon on opening day against IUPUC (Indiana University Purdue University Columbus) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. HU was part of IUPUC history as today marked the Crimson Pride's first doubleheader of their inaugural season.

Game one went as planned for Frame and crew as pitching was on point and their bats put runs on the board every inning.

Tyler Papenbrock was dazzling on the mound to notch the win. The sophomore southpaw gave up just one hit and four walks through the first 4.2 innings while striking out 11 of the 18 batters he faced. He strung together eight straight strikeouts that began in the second and continued into the fifth.

Max Meisner relieved Papenbrock with two outs in the fifth. Once Meisner settled in, his performance was relentless. Three of the first four batters he faced found their way on base compliments of a hit and two free passes but after that he slammed the door shut on any hopes IUPUC had of finding home. He fanned the final six batters to preserve the shutout.

Max Moser led a balanced Forester attack with a solo blast in the second and a two-run double in the sixth to finish with two hits and three RBI. Ian McCutcheon also posted two base pokes, one of which knocked in a run. Langston Ginder and Tyler Jakob added two hits apiece while freshman Jordan Malott, in his Forester debut, pounded out a double and scored twice. Jarret Gray's contributions at the plate were also notable as he drove in two runs, one by way of a ground out and the second on a base knock into center.

As a team, Huntington finished with 11 hits, five for extra bases. Frame's crew frontloaded their lead by scoring three runs in the first and second frames and then added at least one run after for the 11-run rout.

The Crimson Pride made a late surge in the nightcap to keep things interesting. Gray kicked off the scoring by singling in a run in the bottom of the first. The next three frames came and went relatively quietly as the two teams combined for just four hits and four runners left on base.

Huntington maximized their opportunities in the fifth. With runners on the corners, McCutcheon launched a sac fly into right field after which Matt Wolff drove in a second run with an RBI-ground out. The sixth started just like the fifth with runners on the corners. This time it was Ginder's shot to right that drove in what proved the unsuspecting game-winner.

Up 4-0 heading into the seventh, the Foresters had to weather a fast and furious comeback by IUPUC before they could call it quits. The Crimson Pride kicked off the frame with a double. An out, walk and stolen base later set the stage for Wyatt Sutton's RBI-single for what will go down as IUPUC's first run in program history.

After HU reliever Noah Arbuckle worked a fly out for out number two, John Codner rocketed a shot to left for a two-run double to make for a 4-3 ball game.

With the tying run on second, Arbuckle worked his way out of the jam by coaxing the next batter into a groundout to safeguard the lead. The junior hurler tossed the final two inning to log the save. Joey Butz spent the first five innings on the bump to record the win. He gave up three hits and two walks while striking out eight.

The Foresters (2-0) are back at it tomorrow for another doubleheader with IUPUC.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 125 NAIA All-America honors and 449 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.