Heidelberg Wins Battle of Nationally-Ranked Teams

In a battle between two nationally-ranked teams on the baseball diamond anything is possible. The Heidelberg College baseball team broke into the national rankings this week at No. 24 and hit the road to face No. 7 The College of Wooster. In the end, Heidelberg overcame an early deficit and earned a 9-2 victory.

The contest was in familiar territory for ninth-year head coach Matt Palm, a 1995 Wooster graduate and nearby Orrville native. Palm played under current Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini from 1992-95. Palm has coached across the diamond on six previous occasions and although Heidelberg pushed the Fighting Scots to the limit that elusive first victory over his alma mater had never happened until today.

It was the second meeting of the two institutions on the year. Earlier in the year, down south at the Port Charlotte Invitational, Wooster posted a 5-2 victory. Overall Heidelberg now stands at 27-7 on the year, while Wooster falls to 30-6.

Wooster held a 2-0 lead after four innings of action. In the fifth inning Heidelberg began to connect with their bats. Matt Grassley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) led the inning off with a walk and moved to second on a Biagio Boytim (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) single. Steve Decker (Maumee, Ohio / Springfield) advanced the base runners with a sacrifice bunt, to set up Willie Brechun’s (Clinton, Ohio / Canton Central Catholic) bases clearing double down the left field line to tie the game. Brechun rounded the bases and scored the eventual game-winning run on a wild pitch.

Heidelberg added two more runs in the sixth off of two RBI extra base hits from Grassley and Decker. Grassley connected for a triple, while Decker added a double. In the eighth, Boytim knocked in Jason Lash (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville), who reached on a single to put the Berg up 6-2. Finally, Heidelberg tacked on another three runs in its last at bat to close the game with a 9-2 win. Two of Heidelberg’s runs in the ninth were knocked in on a Gar Keen (Fredericktown, Ohio / Highland) triple down the right field line.

Ohio Athletic Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week Andy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) came in relief in the fifth inning and finished out the contest with a one-hit shutout. Along the way Lowe struck out six batters and improved to 2-0 on the year.

Heidelberg’s bats combined for nine hits on the day, all of which came from the fifth inning on. Boytim finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Lash continued his dominance at the plate by extending his hitting streak to 21 games with his triple in the ninth. Also picking up a hit was Jeremy Wentworth (Johnstown, Ohio / St. Charles), Andrew Buelow (Marysville, Mich. / Marysville), Keen, Grassley, Decker and Brechun. Brechun also knocked in two runs.

The Berg resumes OAC action Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader with Wilmington College at Peaceful Valley in Tiffin. Heidelberg currently has sole possession of first place in the league standings with four games left on the schedule. The winner of the regular season earns the right to host the four-team OAC Tournament. The winner of the OAC Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. A season ago, Heidelberg had the honor of hosting the tournament following claiming its second regular season title.