FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Indiana Wesleyan University baseball team is off to a hot start in Crossroads League play at they finished a four game series sweep of Saint Francis (Ind.) on Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Indiana Wesleyan won the opening game today 9-2 and then claimed a 4-3 10-inning victory for the team’s fourth win over Saint Francis in about 24 hours. IWU also swept a doubleheader against USF on Friday by scores of 5-4 and 2-0. Indiana Wesleyan improves to 13-11 this season and 4-0 in league play while Saint Francis drops to 5-16 and 0-4 in the Crossroads League.
In the opener, Saint Francis scored first with a run in the first inning. Indiana Wesleyan grabbed a 2-1 lead with two runs in the third inning. Nick Koh (SO/Auckland, N.Z.) scored on a wild pitch and Preston Fugita (SR/Littleton, Colo.) scored the second run on a bunt laid down by Thomas Barnes (SR/Marion, Ind.).
The score remained 2-1 until the seventh inning where Indiana Wesleyan plated seven runs to gain a 9-1 advantage. Fugita and Logan Tomlinson (SO/Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) had the big hits in the frame as both had two run singles to pull away from Saint Francis.
Jacob Gividen (FR/Portage, Mich.) pitched a complete game effort with two runs -- one earned -- in 7.0 innings. He scattered seven hits and three walks while striking out five.
Fugita was 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs while Cameron Screeton (SR/Rochester, Ind.) was 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
In the final game of the series, Indiana Wesleyan scored first when Fugita scored on a ground ball off the bat of Barnes. That was the only run until the bottom of the seventh. IWU starting pitcher Kenna Barnett went into the seventh inning pitching a shutout but Saint Francis loaded the bases with one out. A ground ball to short allowed the tying run to score but Barnett was able to force extra innings with another ground ball to short to end the inning.
The game went to the 10th inning with the score still tied 1-1. Fugita led the inning off and was hit by a pitch. Screeton came to back and Saint Francis threw the ball away which allowed Fugita to score and Screeton to race all the way to third base. Barnes followed with a ground ball to short and another USF error allowed Screeton to cross the plate. A Cody Calvert (SR/Godfrey, Ill.) sac bunt moved Barnes to second and then he stole third base. A wild pitch allowed Barnes to score a critical third run in the inning as IWU led 4-1.
Matt Blankenship (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) entered in the bottom of the 10th inning for Barnett. The first three USF batters reached to load the bases. Back-to-back fielder’s choices brought two runs home while the Cougars had the tying run on first base. But Blankenship induced a third straight fielder’s choice to close out the game for the Wildcats 4-3.
Barnett earned the win with one run in 9.0 innings of work. He gave up seven hits and two walks along with three punch outs. In the four game series with Saint Francis, Blankenship collected one win and two saves.
Saint Francis outhit Indiana Wesleyan 10-2 in the second game. IWU took advantage of six walks, three hit batters, and two Saint Francis errors. Tomlinson reached base three times with a hit and two walks while Screeton had the other hit plus one walk.
Indiana Wesleyan returns to action at 2 p.m. on Wednesday with a non-league home doubleheader against Clearly (Mich.) at Wildcat Field.
