FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech baseball team defeated Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) foe Cornerstone, 18-3, in seven innings on Saturday afternoon at the Warrior Field to complete the three-game sweep in their opening home weekend.
 
Cornerstone took the lead three batters into the game after a leadoff triple and a one-out double, but Brandon Hillier worked out of the jam with just one run on the board for the visitors. Tech's offense picked up their starter in the bottom half of the first with four runs on three hits, two walks and a wild pitch. Back-to-back walks from Shoma Sasaki and Matt Bandor were followed up by three consecutive singles from Glen McClain, Tighe Koehring and Dillin Diehm to push across three runs before a wild pitch allowed Daniel Johnson II to score the fourth run of the inning.
 
The scoring continued into the second as the Warriors put up a nine-spot in the inning and sent 14 batters to the plate as they chased starter Noah Reed and touched up reliever Jon Martin for six runs without an out being recorded. Bandor started off the scoring with a double to plate Dominic Giuliani and Dante Biagini while Diehm launched one over the right field fence onto Anthony Boulevard for a grand slam to make it a 10-1 game. An RBI single from Biagini and an RBI ground out from Bandor accounted for the final two runs of the frame as the Orange and Black led 13-1 after two innings.
 
The Golden Eagles threatened again in the third as back-to-back walks and a single chased Hillier from the game, but Joe Wolf worked out of a 3-0 hole to get a strike out and end the threat with just one run scoring in the inning. The hosts added a single run in the third before tacking on three more in the fifth and another in the sixth to record a season-high 18 runs and end the weekend on a high note.
 
McClain and Diehm each finished the day 2-3 with two runs while Biagini and Ryan Meisenheimer also collected two hits on the afternoon. Kelvin Flores hit his third home run of the season on the first pitch in a pinch-hit appearance in the sixth, while Joe Wolf picked up the win after throwing 2.1 innings in relief and allowing just one run on one hit.
 
Tech (14-13, 10-2 WHAC) returns to action Wednesday as they continue a 15-game home stand with a nonconference game against Indiana Wesleyan. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. from Warrior Field.