ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights baseball team defeated Rochester Christian twice in a pair of games on Thursday afternoon. In game one, the Saints won 5-3 and in game two the Saints won 13-5.
The Saints will return to action at Aquinas on Saturday, March 30th at 1&4 pm.
Game one: Siena Heights 5, Rochester Christian 3
Gino Hutchinson led the Saints in hitting going 3-for-3 recording one RBI and one run. Along with Hutchinson batting well for the Saints, Kenny Layman went 2-for-4 with a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cole Mason and Jacob Jackson also had a solid afternoon with two hits both going 2-for-3.
Chase Molnar started the afternoon for the Saints and played in six innings forcing seven strikeouts and was credited with the win. Matt Love relieved for the final at bat to finish game one for the Saints.
In the top of the second inning, Rochester Christian jumped out to a 2-0 lead. That was until the next at bat for the Saints when Adam Wilding tripled with his only hit in game one, recording two RBIs. Gino Hutchinson and Nick Tiller both scored on those runs.
Two innings later in the bottom of the fourth, Gino Hutchinson doubled recording an RBI sending Brayden Hill home to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 3-2. In the ensuing inning, Kenny Layman recorded a home run to put the Saints up by two runs. To put the final bow in scoring for the Saints, Cole VanWasshenova sacrifice flied to right field to send Cole Mason home for the Saints to take a 5-2 lead. Rochester only scored one more run to end game one.
Game two: Siena Heights 13, Rochester Christian 5
Kenny Layman led the Saints in hitting going 3-for-5 and recording a grand slam, his second home run on the afternoon. Layman also recorded a team-high four RBIs. Adam Wilding also recorded three hits going 3-for-4, recording 3 RBIs. To round off the leaders in batting for the Saints, Cole Mason and Brayden Hill each went 2-for-4.
As for pitching in game two, Garret Smith pitched in three innings forcing one strikeout. Ben Weadock followed up Smith and played in two innings forcing one strikeout. After Weadock's two innings pitched, Shilo Bernal Jr. came right in and forced five strikeouts. Christian Jabiro relieved the last at bat to finish the double-header sweep for the Saints.
In game two, Rochester Christian jumped out to a 1-0 advantage until in the bottom of the first when Adam Wilding doubled recording two RBIs while Kenny Layman and Cole VanWasshenova both scored. Two innings later in the third inning, Rochester regained the lead at 3-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Saints regained the lead at 6-3. After some struggles on the mound with Rochester Christian, the Saints cashed in with multiple walks which resulted in runs. Also in the bottom of the fourth inning, Kenny Layman hit his second home run resulting in a grand slam to put the Saints up 10-3. After the grand slam the Saints cruised to victory and improved to 11-13 overall, and 5-3 in WHAC conference action.
