Upland, Ind. – The HU baseball team kept it close with #18 Taylor in their first of two doubleheaders but suffered a loss each time, 8-6, 5-4, Saturday afternoon at Winterholter Field. With these two wins, the Trojans (15-4, 6-0) extend their win-streak to ten.
Both teams racked up double-digit hits in the opener with the hosts logging 12 to Huntington's ten. A 2-1 difference favored TU through the first three frames with the guests' run coming by way of Dylan Rost's sacrifice fly. But all that changed with to two big swings in the fourth. The Foresters cranked out back-to-back homers with Mason Meyer clocking a two-run shot after which Rost launched one over the center field fence for a 4-2 HU lead.
It was a short-lived advantage with the Trojans unleashing for six runs in the home half of the fourth. It sealed Huntington's fate as they got two back in the fifth on a double steal and Beldon Glasgow's RBI-double but it's as close as they would get the rest of the afternoon.
Junior Keegan Shovlain took the loss for HU having spent the first 3.1 frames on the bump where he gave up eight hits, seven runs and two walks while striking out two.
With the first-game loss fresh in their mind, it looked like Huntington was plotting revenge in the nightcap as they plated the game's first three runs, two on solo homeruns at the bat of Cam Clarkson and Meyer in the first and fourth innings respectively with Glasgow's RBI-single in the third sandwiching the two mighty swings.
But the Trojans fired back with four runs over three innings starting in the bottom of the fourth to climb on top 4-3. HU still had fight in them behind the play of Glasgow again. This time the senior third baseman posted an RBI-groundout to pull things even at 4s. Taylor made sure it didn't go to extra innings by ending the evening in walk-off fashion by way of an RBI-single down the right field line with bases loaded and no outs.
Graham Kollen was charged with the loss. He gave up ten hits, five runs, four earned, and two walks while striking out seven.
With these two losses, HU drops to 7-9 which includes a 2-4 conference record. Huntington heads back to Upland on Monday for their second doubleheader against Taylor.
The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 160 NAIA All-America honors and 567 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.
