ATHENS, Tenn. – A trio of newcomers shined as the Indiana Tech baseball team headed south to open the 2015 season against No. 23 Tennessee Wesleyan, dropping a pair of games a Jack Bowling Baseball Field, 14-4 and 12-6, on Saturday afternoon.
A trio of transfers,
Matt Bandor,
Steve Remesnik and
Peyton Newsom played well despite the outcome, combining for five hits, five RBIs and one run scored in the two games.
It took the Warriors (0-2) a couple of innings to get going in the first game of the 2015 season. Playing outdoors for the first time since October, Tech went down in order in the first and the Bulldogs, coming off an upset of preseason No. 1, Cumberland (Tenn.), jumped all over the Warriors pitching staff. Three hits and a pair of walks plated a pair of runs in the first inning and after
Derek Morgan recorded the first hit in 2015 for Tech, the home team sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring six runs on five hits and an error to push the lead to eight.
Tech stranded another runner in the third and TWC added a ninth run in the bottom of the inning. The middle innings were quiet as the teams combined for two hits in the fourth and fifth innings, but Tech hit its stride in the sixth.
Chris Gaynor led off with a hit by pitch and scored on a
Dezmon Nunn double. Nunn advanced to third on an errant throw and came around to score when
Zach Fyfe grounded to the right side. After
Romer Portes doubled to right, sophomore newcomer, Remesnik, belted an 0-2 pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run. Tech cut the lead to five, 9-4, but the Bulldogs added five more runs in the bottom of the frame for the 14-4 win.
Jason Sterrett was a bright spot on the mound for Tech, pitching 3.1 innings of relief, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out four against two walks.
In the second contest it was the first two innings that sunk the Warriors. The Bulldogs opened the game with seven runs on seven hits, including a grand slam, to put the Warriors in a hole. Tech bounced back quickly, scoring in the top of the second as
Brian Hakes, who was hit by a pitch, crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from
Tyler Denniston.
Five more hits led to five more runs for the home team and Tech was in a 12-1 hole after two innings, but continued to chip away. The pitching staff limited the Bulldogs to just three hits the rest of the contest, allowing the offense to attempt a comeback.
In the third inning, the speed of
Kyle Mead was huge as the junior outfielder led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a Nunn fly ball and scored on an RBI groundout by
Zach Fyfe. The Warriors were quiet again until the sixth when they exploded for four runs on four hits.
Zach Pfafman got things started with a one-out single and later scored on a Bandor two-out hit to left center. Denniston walked to load the bases and Newsom followed with a bases-clearing double, scoring
Chris Gaynor, who ran for Hakes, Bandor and Denniston, but it wasn't enough as Tech fall 12-6.
Bandor led the offense, finishing 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored while Newsom delivered three RBIs.
Connor McLaughlin struggled in the second inning, but tossed four innings, allowing the five runs on seven hits striking out a pair.
Jacob Koehring allowed just one hit in his lone inning of work, striking out two to end the game.
The Warriors will conclude the three-game series with the Bulldogs Sunday, Feb. 15 with one nine-inning contest. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jack Bowling Baseball Field.
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Baseball Contact: Zachary Shore | 260.422.5561 x. 2492 | zrshore@indianatech.edu
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