ADRIAN, Mich. -- Thomas Bakoway smacked a walkoff two-run home run in the Siena Heights baseball team's conference opener as the Saints earned a split with defending WHAC regular-season and tournament champ Northwestern Ohio on Monday at the SHU Baseball Diamond. SHU won game one, 4-2, before the Racers took game two, 9-4.
The Saints (4-10, 1-1) will return to action on Tuesday with a visit to nationally-ranked Indiana Tech on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Game one: SHU 4, UNOH 2
Bakoway's game-ending dinger came with two outs in the bottom of the seventh as he placed an 0-2 pitch over the left-field wall. The prior at-bat, Adam Wilding kept the inning alive with a two-out single.
Cole VanWasshenova, Matt Love, Nick Tiller and Brayden Hill had two-hit games for the Saints. VanWasshenova stole two bases while Love and Hill had one apiece. Haydn Smith added a double for the Siena Heights offense.
Kenny Layman worked 6 2/3 strong innings on the hill, allowing two runs on three hits. He totaled two strikeouts and five walks. Layman took a no-hitter into the UNOH fifth inning before a leadoff single by the Racers' Lincoln Hackim ended the no-no.
Relief pitcher Ryan Sullivan got the final two outs of the UNOH seventh, setting the stage for Bakoway's heroics in the bottom half.
Siena Heights had built a 2-0 lead with RBI singles by VanWasshenova and Tiller in the third and fifth innings, respectively. The Racers tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the sixth.
Game two: UNOH 9, SHU 4
Jacob Jackson led the SHU offense with a 2-for-4 game. He had a double, run and RBI. Hill scored two runs and Smith collected two RBI.
The Saints jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second frame as Jackson ripped an RBI double and Smith hit a two-run single.
The Racers came back with three runs in the third and then took the lead with one in the fourth. An RBI single by SHU's Love tied the contest at 4-all in the fourth. That served as the final Saint run.
UNOH took the lead for good with a three-run seventh, highlighted by a two-run homer by Ben Jackson. The Racers added two insurance runs in the ninth.
Chase Molnar was the losing pitcher for SHU, giving up four runs on six hits in four innings pitched.
