PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University baseball team got back in the win column as they won a four-game series over Trinity Christian this weekend. The Tigers took three out of four against the Trolls, sweeping the doubleheader on the road Friday before settling for the split Saturday at Watson Field.
Donovan Yelle provided all the power in the series-opening win. Trailing 3-1 In the fifth inning, Geon Yoon launched a homer before Yelle notched his first RBI with a run-scoring single to tie the game. The Trolls (21-19, 13-9 CCAC) reclaimed the lead with a run in the sixth, but Yelle put ONU right back in front with a three-run blast in the top of the seventh. Michael Freitas retired the Trolls in the final frame to collect the save and tack down the Tiger win.
Friday’s second game was another back-and-forth affair. After TCC claimed a 2-0 lead in the first frame, Evan Pogioli tied the game with a two-run shot over the wall in left to tie the game. The Tigers held a 6-5 lead which grew after two-run innings in the seventh and eighth to put the game out of reach. Cade Costello picked up the win in relief.
ONU’s one hiccup in the series came in Saturday’s opener. Trinity Christian scored multiple runs in the first three innings and added another in the fourth to quickly put up double-digit runs on the scoreboard. Jordan Rhoden scored on a wild pitch and Jack Dupuis plated a run with an RBI single as part of a two run inning in the second, and Pogioli recorded an RBI single in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Trolls in the 12-3 setback.
The Tigers rallied back for a gritty 5-2 win to round out the weekend. Kai Hudson got his team ahead early with an RBI single, which followed by an RBI groundout off the bat of Joeseph Jimenez that staked ONU to a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Taylor Bledsoe tacked on two more runs for the Tigers in the following frame, plating Sam Reczek on an RBI single and then swiping home plate on a double steal.
Dupuis then extended the ONU lead to five with an RBI triple in the fourth. The Trolls responded with a two-run homer in the sixth and were threatening with runners in scoring position in the eighth, but Jeffrey Vest came in relief to get the Tigers out of the jam and set the table for Freitas, who collected his second save of the series by retiring the Trolls in order in the final frame to lock down the ONU win.
The Tigers will be back in action Wednesday for a doubleheader against the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees.
–ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
