WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The Huntington baseball team put on a jaw-dropping offensive clinic Friday afternoon at Miller Field. After running away with a 22-5 win over Grace in a nine-inning affair cut two frames short compliments of the skunk rule, the Foresters beat up on the Lancers again in the nightcap to the tune of a 13-1 decision.
Huntington's final stats of game one were eye-popping. After establishing a new season-high 21 hits yesterday, Frame's crew bettered their best by logging 24 base smacks this afternoon with 16 going for extra bases. The breakdown included nine doubles, two triples and five homeruns.
Matt Wolff hit for the cycle with his single and homer coming in the second, his three-bagger in the third and his double in the fifth. He added two RBI along the way. Jarret Gray's numbers were also notable. He finished with five hits and tallied three RBI.
Ian McCutcheon and Langston Ginder each clocked one out of the park on the way to posting three hits and three RBI each. Sebastian Kuhns finished with two hits while driving in four runs with three of his RBI coming when he sent his first pitch of the contest deep. Jordan Malott rounded out HU's homerun hitters with a solo shot in the seventh.
When all was said and done, eight different Foresters pounded out at least two hits. The second frame proved Huntington's most fruitful at-bat. The visitors sent 16 batters to the plate to the tune of 11 runs. Three dingers accounted for six of the 11 runs.
While 13 runs is nothing to sneeze at, the nightcap seemed almost mundane after the slugfest that was the earlier game. HU needed just ten hits to get the job done with Gray claiming four of them. He finished today's twin bill by going 9-for-11 at the plate and knocking in five runs.
Ginder was the only Forester to go yard in game two but it was a big one – a grand slam in the fourth. For the four-game series, the Huntertown native racked up ten hits and 17 RBI.
So far this season, the Foresters have piled up double digit runs in 18 games.
While Huntington's offense hogged the limelight, Frame's pitching crew was on point too. Noah Arbuckle registered the complete-game win in the opener, scattering eight hits, five runs and a walk while striking out four.
Graham Kollen sat down eight batters on strikes in the nightcap on his way to a complete-game win too. The sophomore hurler gave up a mere six hits, one run and two walks.
HU won the four-game series with Grace 3-1 having outscored their hosts 61-29.
With today's sweep, Huntington improves to 27-11 which includes a 20-6 CL record. HU is back in action Tuesday for a non-conference matchup with Thomas More at Forest Glen.
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.
