Posted: May 02, 2012
ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights baseball team opened the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament with two wins on Wednesday -- a 4-1 victory over Northwestern Ohio at the SHU Baseball Field and then a 9-5 triumph against No. 21 Indiana Tech at Adrian College's Nicolay Field.
Brett Howard (Sylvania, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales) hammered a go-ahead, three-run home run in the second contest as the fifth-seed Saints (29-23) pulled an upset on the top-seed Warriors (37-19). Dan Abbott (Plymouth, Mich./Lutheran Westland) and Corey Caldwell (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln Consolidated) also had home runs for SHU.
Indiana Tech took the game's first lead, plating a run in the third on an RBI single by Brandon Paletta, before Siena Heights answered with four straight scores.
Caldwell smacked a solo dinger to right field in the SHU fifth and then put the Saints ahead with a two-out RBI single in the sixth. Chaz Poindexter (Ypsilanti, Mich./Milan) followed with a two-run single, giving the Saints a 4-1 advantage.
The Warriors had an immediate answer in their fourth, manufacturing runs on an RBI single by Jake Owens, a wild pitch, an RBI double from Tyler Watts and a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Thomas Barnes. At that point, Indiana Tech led, 5-4.
During the seventh, Howard connected for his one-out, three-run blast over the left-field wall. Abbott's round-tripper in the ninth tacked on two insurance scores for SHU.
Howard and Caldwell finished with three hits apiece while Poindexter contributed two hits and Cory Lehman (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) scored two runs.
SHU starting pitcher Brett Kuebler (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits before giving way to reliever Travis Mielcarek (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic), who tossed one inning to earn the win.
Mielcarek did run into a bit of trouble in the seventh with the Saints ahead, 7-5. The Warriors had the bases loaded with one out before the SHU's next hurler, Jake Kret (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt), ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Kret worked 2 2/3 frames of one-hit ball to claim the save.
For Indiana Tech, Craig Herrman smacked three hits while Reinaldo Scott, Brandon Paletta and Eric Wald finished with two each. Alex Kimsey was the losing pitcher.
In the win over UNOH, the Saints took a 3-0 lead in the first on a two-out, three-run double by Abbott -- a gap wide enough for winning pitcher Corey Alexander (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer), who gave up one run on seven hits while recording three strikeouts.
The Racers scored their only run in the eighth on an RBI single by Ben Schubert, which trimmed their deficit to 3-1.
Siena Heights increased its lead to 4-1 when Abbott responded with his second two-bagger of the game.
Jake Sperry (Livonia, Mich./Westland John Glenn) pitched one inning in relief of Alexander and induced a game-ending double play.
For the Saints, Abbott, Lehman, Kyle Benschoter (Hudson, Mich./Hudson) and Mike Lollo (Allen Park, Mich./Cabrini) had two hits apiece. Howard also doubled.
Schubert and Pichi Torres finished with two hits each for UNOH while losing pitcher Pichi Torres struck out 12 batters in seven innings.
In other tournament action, three-seed Madonna defeated two-seed Davenport, 8-1. Davenport the defeated Northwestern Ohio, 7-2, in an elimination game.
On Thursday, the Saints will take on Madonna at 10 a.m. before Davenport and Indiana Tech meet at 1 p.m. The day will feature a third game between the Madonna/SHU loser and Davenport/Indiana Tech winner.
Brett Howard (Sylvania, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales) hammered a go-ahead, three-run home run in the second contest as the fifth-seed Saints (29-23) pulled an upset on the top-seed Warriors (37-19). Dan Abbott (Plymouth, Mich./Lutheran Westland) and Corey Caldwell (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln Consolidated) also had home runs for SHU.
Indiana Tech took the game's first lead, plating a run in the third on an RBI single by Brandon Paletta, before Siena Heights answered with four straight scores.
Caldwell smacked a solo dinger to right field in the SHU fifth and then put the Saints ahead with a two-out RBI single in the sixth. Chaz Poindexter (Ypsilanti, Mich./Milan) followed with a two-run single, giving the Saints a 4-1 advantage.
The Warriors had an immediate answer in their fourth, manufacturing runs on an RBI single by Jake Owens, a wild pitch, an RBI double from Tyler Watts and a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Thomas Barnes. At that point, Indiana Tech led, 5-4.
During the seventh, Howard connected for his one-out, three-run blast over the left-field wall. Abbott's round-tripper in the ninth tacked on two insurance scores for SHU.
Howard and Caldwell finished with three hits apiece while Poindexter contributed two hits and Cory Lehman (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) scored two runs.
SHU starting pitcher Brett Kuebler (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits before giving way to reliever Travis Mielcarek (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic), who tossed one inning to earn the win.
Mielcarek did run into a bit of trouble in the seventh with the Saints ahead, 7-5. The Warriors had the bases loaded with one out before the SHU's next hurler, Jake Kret (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt), ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Kret worked 2 2/3 frames of one-hit ball to claim the save.
For Indiana Tech, Craig Herrman smacked three hits while Reinaldo Scott, Brandon Paletta and Eric Wald finished with two each. Alex Kimsey was the losing pitcher.
In the win over UNOH, the Saints took a 3-0 lead in the first on a two-out, three-run double by Abbott -- a gap wide enough for winning pitcher Corey Alexander (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer), who gave up one run on seven hits while recording three strikeouts.
The Racers scored their only run in the eighth on an RBI single by Ben Schubert, which trimmed their deficit to 3-1.
Siena Heights increased its lead to 4-1 when Abbott responded with his second two-bagger of the game.
Jake Sperry (Livonia, Mich./Westland John Glenn) pitched one inning in relief of Alexander and induced a game-ending double play.
For the Saints, Abbott, Lehman, Kyle Benschoter (Hudson, Mich./Hudson) and Mike Lollo (Allen Park, Mich./Cabrini) had two hits apiece. Howard also doubled.
Schubert and Pichi Torres finished with two hits each for UNOH while losing pitcher Pichi Torres struck out 12 batters in seven innings.
In other tournament action, three-seed Madonna defeated two-seed Davenport, 8-1. Davenport the defeated Northwestern Ohio, 7-2, in an elimination game.
On Thursday, the Saints will take on Madonna at 10 a.m. before Davenport and Indiana Tech meet at 1 p.m. The day will feature a third game between the Madonna/SHU loser and Davenport/Indiana Tech winner.
