BASEBALL

The Forester baseball team capped off their weekend series with 11th-ranked University of the Cumberlands by knocking off their hosts 3-2 in the nightcap of a twin bill. The W came on the heels of a 15-inning marathon that eventually favored the Patriots 6-4.

The loss is the Cumberlands first of the season as they drop to 17-1 while HU moves to 2-6.

Huntington built a 3-0 lead after five innings of play in the nightcap and then held off a Patriot squad that was hankering for a heroic comeback in their last at bat.

Daniel Lichty started off HU’s scoring in the first by singling in Langston Ginder who had sent a two-bagger into left-center in the previous at bat. Run No. 2 came by way of Satchell Wilson’s RBI-ground out in the fourth and then Ginder sent a 3-0 pitch over the right field fence in the fifth to round out his team’s scoring.

It looked like HU might cruise to the win as Joey Butz held the Patriots in check through the first six frames, but things got a little iffy in the seventh. With one out and a runner on first, Butz was replaced by Camden Dice who watched UC find home twice on a sac fly and wild pitch before working the third out to preserve the win.

Butz earned his first win of the year by giving up four hits, a run and three walks while striking out five in 6.1 innings of work.

Lichty and Ginder accounted for all five of their team’s hits with three and two respectively.

While it wasn’t the outcome HU was hoping for, game one saw the Foresters get the best of starting pitcher Nathan Geissler. Geissler, ranked 10th nationally for runs allowed, entered the contest having given up just two runs in his 18 innings pitched but by the time he left the mound after 6.1 frames today, his total was five.

Eli Knust was the first to crack the senior hurler when he singled in Max Moser who took first after being hit by a pitch in the top of the second. Jarret Gray picked up the game’s second RBI with a ground out in the third that allowed Ginder to scamper home after drawing a walk and advancing to the other corner on Lichty’s two-base hit.

The Patriots responded with three runs starting in their half of the third to claim a 3-2 advantage by the sixth before HU struck again. This time Ian McCutcheon doubled in pinch runner Ryan Hale in the seventh for the 3-3 stalemate. Originally slated to be a seven-inning contest, unsuspecting fans at Doyle-Buhl Stadium more than got their money’s worth as the game far from being over at that point.

Both teams scored in the eleventh, HU’s on a sacrifice fly by Lichty, to extend the game another spell. Bryan Leef finally brought an end to the lengthy affair when he cranked a walk-off two run homer in the bottom of the fifteenth for a 6-4 final.

Frame’s crew hammered out 15 hits behind Wilson’s three base pokes. Lichty finished with a pair of hits and an RBI. Alex McCutcheon also posted two hits and drew two walks.

After Mason Shinabery tossed the first seven innings, Brent Turner came on in relief to give up six hits, three runs and two walks while striking out three in the final 7.1 innings to be charged with the loss.

The Foresters are back in action Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. to face Indiana Tech at Logansport High School for a single nine.