The Tiffin University baseball team knocked off the Mansfield University Mounties on Tuesday morning by the final score of 7-3. The Dragons capitalized on three Mansfield errors, including two in the deciding 8th inning.
The Dragons sent Luke Fraley to the mound in search of his first collegiate win, and he received run support in the early innings. After a Nick Calandra single, his 5th hit in a row, Nick Hueneberg laced a double into the left field gap, pushing Calandra to 3rd with one out. Cody Spires kept the line moving with an RBI single to left field to give Tiffin an early 1-0 lead.
Fraley kept the Mounties in check until the 4th inning when things got a little dicey. A double and an error put two runners on, and the Mounties then cleared the bases with a single to give them a 2-1 lead.
After recording the first two outs in the Dragons half of the 5th inning, Mansfield simply couldn't find the strike zone. The Mounties handed out four straight free passes to push a run home. This tied the game at 2-2.
Both teams went quietly in the 6th and 7th, but the Dragons awoke in the 8th. A Nick Hueneberg single, followed by a throwing error on the Mounties put two on with no outs. The errant throw allowed Cody Spires to advance to second base, putting two Dragons in scoring position. Cole McCurry stepped to the plate and bounced a single into left field to plate one run, and Elijah Sanabria followed McCurry with a line shot to left to bring home Spires. This gave the Dragons a 4-2 lead.
Tiffin wasn't done yet, Sanabria broke for 2nd base and was safe, and Cole McCurry swiped 3rd, and then scampered home on the throwing error on the Mansfield catcher, and Tiffin led 5-2. The final two Tiffin runs came off the bat of Isaac Perry. Perry belted a drive to dead center field that cleared the wall to give Tiffin a 7-2 lead. The Dragons gave up a run in the 9th, but held on 7-3.
Luke Fraley hung around for 5 1/3 innings, surrendering 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 earned runs, and punched out 3. He gave way to right-handed reliever Mike Cooperider. Cooperider went at the Mounties, only giving up one run, a solo home run in the 9th. Cooperider records the win, throwing 3 2/3 innings, allowing 1 run on two hits, and striking out 3.
Offensively, the Dragons pounded out nine hits, eight different Dragons had at least one hit. Nick Hueneberg was the only player with 2 hits, finishing 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Isaac Perry knocked in two runs with his long ball, and Cody Spires collected 2 RBI's as well.
The win moves the Dragons to 4-4 overall, and they will be back in action later this evening at 6 pm against Seton Hill College.
