Adrian, Michigan – Siena Heights baseball hosted the 2022 season home opener Tuesday night against Spring Arbor University at the Joseph K. McLaughlin Baseball Stadium. The Saints saw 17 hits and 10 RBIs on the evening. Game one ended with a 5-4 loss in extra innings while pulled out a 7-5 win in game two to split the day with the Cougars.
Game 1: Siena Heights 4, Spring Arbor 5 – 8 innings
Adam Wilding hit 3-for-3, leading the Saints by bringing in one run. Chris Winkelman batted .500 and collected one RBI while Cameron Hammer and Parker Mabe went 1-for-4, each tallying one RBI. Parker Swartz started for SHU, pitching seven innings. He faced 30 SAU batters while allowing four earned runs and striking out two batters. John Miller (L, 2-2) relieved Swartz in the eighth seeing seven batters, one run, and one strikeout.
Jumping out of the gate, Siena put up three runs in the bottom of the first. Collin Hammer saw a single that brought in Haydn Smith as Cole VanWasshenova advanced to third. Chris Winkelman hit a ball towards shortstop to hit an RBI single, seeing VanWasshenova score. Next in the lineup was Mabe, who singled up the middle collecting an RBI as Hammer went home. The Cougars would score twice in the third and fourth innings to claim a 4-3 lead.
Inning five saw an additional score for the blue and yellow as Wilding singled to get on base and moved into scoring position. Wilding ran home as the fourth run for SHU tied the game thanks to an RBI single from Kenny Layman. The fifth and sixth innings saw complete shutouts defensively for Siena Heights. However, SAU would score once more in the eighth inning to take the game.
Game 2: Siena Heights 7, Spring Arbor 5 – 7 innings
In game two, Cameron Hammer led SHU offensively, going 3-for-4 at the plate while also scoring once and bringing in one RBI. VanWasshenova batted .500 and tallied one run and one RBI. Winkelman ran home once and collected two RBIs with a batting average of .333. Seven different Saints scored in game two: Smith, VanWasshenova, Wilding, Hammer, Jacob Jackson, Layman, and Winkelman. Christian Jabiro (W, 1-2) faced 22 batters in his five innings, allowing four runs while striking out one. Ryan Sullivan provided relief for one inning, keeping the Cougars to only one run. Chase Molnar (Sv, 1) came into the game in the seventh inning to wrap things up. Molnar faced four batters and struck out one while not allowing any hits to tally his first save of the season.
The first inning saw three-up-and-three-down for both teams. While the second innings saw seven total runs, three from the visiting Spring Arbor Cougars and four from the home team. Both Jackson and Hammer scored from an RBI single by Winkelman to left-center. Layman ran home after a hit from Collin Bammer. And Winkelman collected a run thanks to VanWasshenova, who singled to centerfield. The top of the third saw one run for SAU that tied the game at four runs apiece.
The fourth saw a great defensive stop from Siena as they finished the top of the inning in three-straight batters. The Saints put three more runs on the board in the bottom half of the third. Smith scored from a single hit by Hammer. VanWasshenova followed with a run home after a sacrifice fly from Jackson. Wilding was sent home on a balk for the final scoring play for the home team in the game. Spring Arbor would score once in the seventh to make the final score 7-5, but the SHU defense got the third out before the Cougars could complete their rally.
Up Next
SHU travels across town to play Adrian College on Wednesday, March 16 at 5:00 p.m. in a single, 9-inning game.
Follow the Saints: Twitter| Facebook| Instagram| YouTube
