'Berg Baseball Victorious in Home Opener

The Heidelberg College baseball team led 3-1 after one inning and never looked back in a 7-2 non-conference victory over Case Western Reserve University in its 2008 home opener at Peaceful Valley. The win is Heidelberg’s seventh-consecutive out of conference victory and improves its overall record to 11-4. Case Western falls to 2-9.

Heidelberg’s three-run first was courtesy of two hits and two Case errors. The Berg added a run in the fourth before putting together another three-run inning in the sixth. The middle of Heidelberg’s line up came up big in the sixth inning. Gar Keen (Fredericktown, Ohio / Highland) led things off with a single followed by Tony Pawlowicz (Montpelier, Ohio / Montpelier). Two batters later Steve Decker (Maumee, Ohio / Springfield) knocked in a run on an RBI single, which set up a two-run double by Jason Lash (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville) to bring Heidelberg’s run total to three for the inning.

Everett Thomas (Evansville, Ind. / Harrison) pitched 8.0 innings to earn the win on the mound. Thomas gave up just three hits, while striking out a career-high 10 batters. He allowed just one unearned run. For the year, Thomas leads the way with a 3-0 record.

Heidelberg had four players record multiple hits, including Jeremy Wentworth (Johnstown, Ohio / St. Charles), L.B. Emrhein (Seven Hills, Ohio / Padua Franciscan), Keen and Decker. Decker and Lash each knocked in two runs.

Heidelberg returns to action in the Ohio Athletic Conference on Saturday, March 29 against Muskingum College at Peaceful Valley. The league doubleheader will begin at 1:00 p.m.