Tiffin University baseball (3-1) took the first two games of a three-game set against Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) on Sunday thanks in large part to Andrew Fairbrother's big day at the plate. He had three homeruns with one being a grand slam and was one shy of the home run cycle while finishing the day with 9 RBIs.
Game 1 (W, 8-7)
The Dragons set their clean up man for early success as Jack Clancy, Adam Deitschel, and Ty Hatfield all reached to load the bases with no outs. Fairbrother stepped to the plate and hit a grand slam to give Tiffin a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning.
The lead didn't last long as the Golden Bears added two in the second and third innings to tie the game at four with the game-tying hit coming from a home run of their own.
The Golden Bears shut down Tiffin's offense for five innings and took advantage of an error by Luke Westerman in the sixth inning to take a 7-4 lead.
Trailing 7-4 going into their final at bat in the bottom of the seventh, the top of the lineup again set the table for Fairbrother. Deitschel and Hatfield drew back-to-back walks to start the inning and Fairbrother tied it with a three-run blast to center field. Later in the inning, Griff Cady, Adam Grabowski, and Westerman all drew walks to load the bases with two outs. With two outs, Colin Crisenberry pinch ran for Cady and came racing home on a wild pitch to win the game for the Dragons.
Fairbrother was 3-for-4 at the plate with 7 RBIs and Grabowski was 2-for-3 with a walk. Brett Nicodemus earned the win, pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Johnathon Ray got the start and went 4.0 innings with five strikeouts. He allowed four runs, all earned, and walked three. Brett Madison pitched 2.0 innings and allowed three runs with one being earned and struck out one.
Game 2 (W, 9-3)
Game two started the same as game one except this time it was a two-run home run by Fairbrother that gave the Dragons the early lead. This time the Dragons led from start to end and didn't allow the Golden Bears back in it.
The Golden Bears got one back in the second, and then Nate Adelman and Jack Clancy each hit a solo home run in the fourth and fifth innings to give TU a 4-1 lead. Tiffin blew the game open in the sixth with five runs. Hilario DeLapaz scored on a passed ball, Deitschel drew a bases loaded walk, and Hatfield cleared the bases with a double to make it 9-1.
Adelman, in his first appearance of the year, was 3-for-4 at the plate with a home run, double, and two runs scored. Clancy and Cady both had two hits and Westerman and Clancy both drew two walks.
Scotty Adelman got the win on the mound, pitching 6.0 innings with four strikeouts. He allowed three hits and one earned run. Trent Hedges pitched 2.0 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and Keegan Phillips pitched the ninth inning and allowed two earned runs.
