BASEBALL

Up against their second straight Top 25 opponent, the HU baseball team dropped a twin bill to #22 UNOH Saturday afternoon, 4-1, 3-2, at Jeffersonville High School. It’d been a decade since these two squads faced off with the Racers coming out on top back then too, 4-3, in February of 2013.

Rolando Heredia-Bustos shutdown HU’s offense in the opener. The senior hurler went the distance having given up just three hits, a run and a walk while striking out seven.

Things looked promising for the visitors in the first inning when Satchell Wilson drew a walk to kick things off after which Ian McCutcheon singled through the left side. Two outs later, the Foresters reaped the benefit of a Racer error which allowed Wilson to scamper home for an early 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, Huntington’s offense dried up after that as UNOH tied things up in the second and then took the lead for good in the fourth by plating three runs with the help of two HU errors. It proved more than enough to ride out the win.

Noah Arbuckle took the loss for Frame and crew. He spent the first four frames on the bump where he gave up four hits and four runs, only one of which was earned, while fanning five.

In the nightcap, the Foresters took a 2-1 lead after five, but one mighty swing changed all that in the bottom of the sixth when Ben Jackson stepped to the plate with a runner on and cranked one out of the park to give the Racers a 3-2 advantage with three outs to go.

After the first two Foresters struck out in the top of the seventh, Tyler Jakob was hit by a pitch to give HU new life but unfortunately reliever Jeremy Yurak coaxed Wilson into a flyout for the final out.

UNOH’s first run in the second was also a dinger while HU’s runs came by way of a Bryce Deckman RBI-single in the second and a Wilson RBI-double in the fifth. Huntington finished the contest with just three hits to the Racers’ nine.

Graham Kollen tossed all but the final out to be charged with the loss. In 5.2 innings of work, he gave up nine hits and three runs while striking out six.

The Foresters are back in action for their home and conference opener on March 3 when they host Spring Arbor at 3:00 p.m.