Auburndale, Fl – The Mount Union baseball team faced off with the North Park Vikings in the RussMatt Invitational on Saturday at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Florida. The Raiders won the opener, 4-3, and dropped the second game, 9-0. 

Thomas Gallant (Pataskala / Watkins Memorial) was the story of game one for the first five innings. He had a no-hit bid through his five innings of work, walking just three before North Park got their first hit of the day in the top of the sixth inning. He would then exit in the sixth. 

Gallant helped himself out in the top of the fourth inning when he roped an RBI single to the gap in left center that brought Brian Livolsi (McMurray, Pa. / Peters Township) home from second and gave Mount Union a 1-0 lead. Gallant would then score on an RBI single by Coleman Stauffer (Boardman / Boardman) to extend the Raiders lead to 2-0. 

The Raiders grabbed an extra run in the fifth when leadoff hitter Dwayne Sumler (Indianapolis, Ind. / Warren Central) brought home RJ Dean (Cuyahoga Heights / Cuyahoga Heights) on an RBI single to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead. 

North Park would then make it a game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Vikings senior Jake Reinhardt hit a three-run home run to left field off Colin Skufca (Wooster / Wooster) that notched the game at 3-3. 

But then in the seventh, the Raiders gained back the lead. After Stauffer doubled to left field and was pinch ran for by Quentin Peters (Fort Pierce, Fla. / Lincoln Park Academy), Dean sac bunted to advance Peters to third. Then Nate Duliba (Berea / Berea-Midpark) hit a hard grounder to first that ate up the first baseman, and allowed Peters to come home to score the winning run. 

Skufca nailed down the win in the bottom of the seventh for his first win of the year. He finished with two innings of relief work, giving up three hits, one earned run, zero walks, and struck out two.

In game two, North Park took advantage of errors in the field and hit by pitches to bat around and score six runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the game early. 

The Vikings would then tack on three more runs on four hits in the top of the fourth inning. 

North Park shortstop Jake Reinhardt led the charge for the Vikings in game two, going 2 for 4 with an RBI triple in the fourth. 

The Vikings' starting pitcher Ethan Sund pitched the complete game shutout for the Vikings. He pitched 7.0 innings, giving up four hits, zero runs, giving up one walk, and struck out 11. 

The entire day was a family affair for the Peters Family. Mount Union junior Quentin Peters (Fort Pierce, Fla. / Lincoln Park Academy) faced off with his brother, Logan Peters, a sophomore outfielder and pitcher for North Park. 

After the doubleheader the Raiders are now 3-3 heading into their doubleheader against Ursinus (Pa.) on Monday in the RussMatt Invitational.