Baseball battles Wash. & Jeff. down to the wire

The Muskingum baseball team came away with an 8-7 win over Wash. & Jeff. after escaping a ninth inning that saw the Presidents load the bases with two outs.

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (6-6), Wash. & Jeff. (2-5)
• Location: Ross Memorial Park
• Attendance: 74

How it Ended

• Sophomore Nathan Johnson was brought in for one inning of relief on the mound in the bottom of the ninth. 
• After getting one out, the Presidents put two singles together to have base runners on the corners.
• Johnson recorded the second out after getting a ground ball hit back to him and throwing it to first.
• Following the second out, the runners were positioned with the tying run at third and the winning run at second.
• The Muskies decided to intentionally walk the following batter to load the bases and trust Johnson to get them out of the inning.
• Johnson did just that. Striking the Wash. & Jeff. batter out to secure the Muskies victory and earn the save in the contest.

Inside the Numbers

• Muskingum scored eight runs on eight hits and had one error.
• Sophomore Sam Palmieri led the Muskies with two doubles, one RBI, and scored one run.
• Sophomore Louie Hess knocked in two RBI’s and scored twice himself.
• Senior Gavin Hawk had two hits, two RBI’s, and scored two runs.
• Hess and Hawk both had a double in today’s contest.
• Senior Ryan Schwartz recorded two hits, two RBI’s, and scored once.
• Freshman Luke Spencer went to work for two innings on the mound, while striking out three batters. Spencer earned the win in the game for the Muskies.
• Josh Dezenzo led Wash. & Jeff. with four hits and four RBI’s. 
• Drew Garth added in three hits and two RBI’s for the Presidents.

Up Next

• Muskingum will be back in action on Saturday, March 16, when they face Wittenberg in a double-header starting at 12:00 p.m.