ALLIANCE, Ohio – Strong pitching and timely hitting led the Mount Union baseball team to a sweep of Heidelberg, 4-2 and 7-1, in an Ohio Athletic Conference series Tuesday at Rafeld-Rogers Field.
The Purple Raiders are now 10-6 overall and 2-0 in the OAC while Heidelberg falls to 8-10 overall and 0-2 in the OAC.
Mount Union's starting pitchers did not let the Berg get anything going offensively as Thomas Gallant (Pataskala / Watkins Memorial) scattered two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings in game one while Dwayne Sumler (Indianapolis, Ind. / Warren Central) allowed a run on four hits over 6.0 innings in game two.
Ryan Osman (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Moon) came on in relief in both games and picked up two saves as he did not allow a hit in either the final 1.2 innings of game one or the final 3.0 innings of game two.
Heidelberg took a 1-0 lead in game one with a run in the top of the first, but Mount Union came right back and scored two in the bottom half of the inning on an Eric Schilling (Stow / Stow-Munroe Falls) RBI fielders' choice and a John Razzante (Fairview Park / Fairview) RBI single.
The Berg tied the game in the fifth and once again Mount Union answered in the bottom half of the frame as Schilling scored on a wild pitch and Razzante had a sacrifice fly RBI to finish the scoring at 4-2.
Mount Union had 11 hits in the game led by Trey Weaver (Franklin, Pa. / Franklin Area) with three hits while Nate Duliba (Berea / Berea-Midpark) and Coleman Stauffer (Boardman) each had two hits.
In game two, Mount Union got out to a 6-0 lead in the game's first four innings.
Weaver had a sacrifice fly RBI in the first inning, Schilling had a sacrifice fly in the second and Stauffer and Joey Nave (Toronto / Edison) drove in runs in the fourth. Weaver capped the fourth with a two-run single to make it 6-0.
Heidelberg got on the board in the sixth and Schilling drove in an unearned run with fielders' choice in the bottom of the sixth for the 7-1 final.
Weaver drove in three runs on two hits in game two as he went 5-for-6 on the day.
Mount Union hosts Oberlin in a non-conference game Wednesday, March 30 at 4 p.m. at Rafeld-Rogers Field.
