'Berg Splits with Mideast Foes on Thursday

Top competition from the NCAA Division III Mideast Region was on display at Peaceful Valley in Tiffin, Ohio on Thursday, April 23. Due to rain at the start of the week the Heidelberg University baseball team opted to host a doubleheader with the College of Wooster and Denison University on Thursday. Originally the Berg was to host Wooster on Tuesday and then Denison on Wednesday.
 
The end result was a Heidelberg split on the day. The Berg fell 5-4 to Wooster, but bounced back for a 7-4 victory over Denison. Heidelberg is currently ranked eighth in the nation according to the American Baseball Coaches Association and 10th by D3baseball.com. Wooster joins the Berg in the national rankings, holding down the 15th spot in the ABCA poll and is in 11th in the D3baseball poll. At the conclusion of the day, Heidelberg stands at 27-7 overall.
 
Against Wooster, the two teams traded two runs at a time to build a 4-4 tie after six innings. Wooster plated the eventual game-winning run in the eighth.
 
For the game, both Wooster and Heidelberg had six hits piece. Leading the way for the Berg was Jason Lash (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville) with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Gar Keen (Sparta, Ohio /Highland) and Matt Grassley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) each had a home run for Heidelberg.
 
Against the Big Red, Heidelberg scored first and would never relinquish its lead. Heidelberg scored a run apiece in the first and second innings before Denison tied it up in the top half of the third. But the Berg never let Denison have control of the scoreboard as it answered with two runs in the fourth to jump back on top and held on for the 7-4 win.
 
Brian Koehl (Sylvania, Ohio / Sylvania Northview) picked up the win on the mound to improve to 5-2 on the year. He went 5.1 innings and gave up seven hits and struck out three. Andy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) threw the final 2.0 innings and picked up his eighth save of the year
 
Heidelberg finished with 10 hits. Freshman Ricky Lizcano (Toledo, Ohio / Roy C. Start) went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Also picking up multiple hits was Biagio Boytim (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) and Lash. Keen belted his second home run on the day.