The Tiffin University baseball team fell to the Ohio Dominican Panthers on Wednesday afternoon, falling 5-3 in game one and 5-2 in the finale.
The Dragons entered the game a full game ahead of ODU in the GLIAC South, but the Panthers were out to flip the script. Tiffin sent Brady Ward to the mound in game one, and he pitched five scoreless innings before hitting a speed bump. Both starters took a shutout into the the 6th, but those were both about to come to an abrupt halt.
The Panthers struck first in the 6th. A walk and an error put runners at second and third, a fielder's choice and back to back singles made it 3-0 in favor of ODU. Two of the three runs were unearned due to the Tiffin error.
Tiffin took their hacks in the bottom of the inning. Kyle Durham singled to left field to start the inning, which was followed up by Isaac Perry reaching on an error by the Panthers' third baseman. Elijah Sanabria's single to right field loaded the bases, and Nick Hueneburg brought home two runs with a single to right field. Cody Spires chased Hueneburg home with a bouncing ball through the right side to tie the game.
Both teams failed to score in the 7th, and free baseball was on tap. The Panthers struck for a pair in the 8th with a walk and three straight singles to make it 5-3. The Dragons put two on with one out after Hueneburg and Spires singled to put runners on the corners. The game ended with Nick Calandra bouncing into a 6-4-3 double play to give Ohio Dominican a 5-3 victory.
Brady Ward threw 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, one earned, walked 4, and punched out 4. Mike Cooperider came on in relief, and he was saddled with the loss, throwing 2 innings and giving up 2 runs on 4 hits.
At bat, Cody Spires and Nick Hueneburg were both 2 for 4 with an RBI. Devon Fisk also chipped in with a couple of hits as well.
In game two, Patrick Bellinger stepped to the mound, and the Panthers pounced on him for two early runs. ODU garnered those two runs with 3 hits, the big blow being a double down the right field line.
Both teams were quiet for the 2nd and 3rd innings, but ODU added another run in the 4th. A double plated the third run of the game for the Panthers making it 3-0.
Tiffin made their charge in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Jack Dennis singled to right field. Then Devon Fisk looped a ball down the left field line that the wind pushed away from the left fielder and allowed Fisk to motor around to third base for an RBI triple. Seth Bryant hit a deep fly ball to center field to score Fisk with a sacrifice fly, pulling the Dragons within two at 4-2.
The problem was, ODU wouldn't go away. The Panthers added a run in the 5th and another run in the 6th to put Tiffin down three at 5-2. The Dragons stepped to the plate in the 7th, and were retired in order to give the Panthers a sweep, and move them in front of Tiffin in the GLIAC South standings.
On the mound, Patrick Bellinger takes the loss. He tossed 4 innings, surrendering 6 hits, 4 runs, all earned, walked 3 and fanned 4.
At the plate, Devon Fisk and Jack Dennis each collected two hits, and Fisk had an RBI. The Dragons had their chances, but the ODU pitching staff stranded 10 Tiffin runners.
The two losses sets the Dragons at 13-22 overall and 7-11 in GLIAC play. Tiffin will be back in action this weekend as they play host to the Malone Pioneers.
