BASEBALL

Pitching was on point for the HU baseball team Friday afternoon at Forest Glen Park to headline a pair of wins, 8-6, 2-1, over the Bethel Pilots.

Tyler Papenbrock tossed a gem in the opener to lead his team to the first win. He worked seven innings of scoreless baseball, giving up a mere two hits and four walks while striking out 12 of the 27 batters he faced. When he stepped off of the mound, HU was up 7-0.

All five of the Pilots’ runs came in their last at bat to keep things interesting They pounded out six of their eight hits in the ninth to touch home five times before the hosts finally notched the final out with two left on base.

The Foresters unleashed for three runs in the second courtesy of a Sam Kestranek’s fielder’s choice and then back-to-back RBI-singles by Kade Flores and Bryce Deckman. After that, HU scored a run in each of the middle innings on a pair of sacrifice flies, one in the fourth by Flores and another in the fifth by Jordan Malott, and then Flores logged a second run-scoring single in the sixth. At that point it was a 6-0 difference.

Two wild pitches, on separate occasions, accounted for Huntington’s final two runs before BU went on their scoring binge.

Flores finished 2-for-2 at the plate to go along with three RBI to pace Frame’s crew offensively. Deckman added two hits and an RBI while Ryne Wheeler and Gregory Nolasco Berroa hammered out three and two base smacks respectively.

It was another extraordinary pitching performance in the nightcap with Graham Kollen going the distance for the complete-game victory. The Fort Wayne native gave up four hits, a run and a walk while striking out nine.

The top of the fifth was Kollen and his crew’s only hiccup of the afternoon. The Pilots didn’t need a hit to find home as a hit batter, two wild pitches and then an HU error allowed the visitors to find home for a 1-0 BU lead.

The Foresters were quiet at the plate the entire contest except the sixth which proved enough to get the job done. A hit batter and intentional walk sandwiched Berroa’s two-bagger to load the bases before Malott worked his second sac fly of the series for a 1-1 stalemate. Berroa scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch after which the hosts made quick work of the Pilots in the top of the seventh to close up shop with the 2-1 win.

HU’s only two hits came at the bats of Berroa and Flores.

With this sweep, Huntington improves to 14-11 which includes a 9-5 CL record. Frame and crew will wrap up their series with Bethel on Monday at 3:00 p.m.