UTICA, Mich. – The No. 16-ranked Indiana Tech baseball team began Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) on Saturday afternoon with a sweep of Lawrence Tech, downing the Blue Devils 12-5 and 6-1 at Jimmy John's Field. With five hits on the day, senior first baseman
Glen McClain further etched his name into the Tech record books as he became the programs all-time hits leaders with 282 career hits, surpassing the 280 set by Hall of Famer Jeremiah Deakins.
Lawrence Tech jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Warriors in the bottom of the first thanks to a three-run homer three batters into the game. Tech came back with a pair of runs in the third thanks to an RBI single from McClain and an LTU error. McClain started a five-run inning in the fifth as he doubled in
Reese Olden two batters into the frame. A pair of RBI singles from
Branson Dossen and
Grant Heisinger put the Warriors ahead 6-4 while
Jacob Alvidrez drove in two with a single up the middle to make it an 8-4 game.
The Blue Devils got another run in the bottom of the fifth, but that would all that would cross against starter
Nate McBroom, who battled through five innings to get the win, while
Dan Shaw struck out seven batters over the final four innings of the game to lock down the win. Dossen and Heisinger would extend the lead to 11-5 in the eighth with RBI singles. McClain finished the game with three hits while Heisinger drove in three runs.
Dossen put the Orange and Black ahead in their first round of at-bats in game two with a sacrifice fly while McClain homered in the top of the third to make it a 2-0 game and surpass Deakins for the top spot in the career hits book. The reigning WHAC Player of the Year tacked on another RBI in the fifth while a two-run bomb from
Kyle Harvey made it a 6-0 game.
Hayes Sturtsman went 7.1 innings on the hill to improve to 3-0 after allowing just three hits and no runs while striking out eight batters.
Tech (15-7) continues their opening weekend of conference action Sunday with a doubleheader against Aquinas College. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at DeWitt Field on the campus of Cornerstone University.