Racers Take First Two Against Cornerstone

LIMA, OH - The first two games of a four-game series went the way of the Racers Friday. UNOH (8-10, 5-1) blanked Cornerstone (10-14, 3-3) 7-0 in game one before having to rally to win game two 13-8. The Racers extend their win streak to five, the longest of the season.

Game 1: UNOH 7 Cornerstone 0 (7 Innings)

There were four combined hits through two in a half innings, but the Racers struck first in the home third. An error sandwiched between two singles loaded the bases to start the at bat. Seth Freeman brought in the first with a dribbler up the first base line. The second came from a sac fly by Eliomar Otero and UNOH led 2-0 after three. Back-to-back errors started the bottom of the fourth for the Racers bringing in one run. UNOH continued to take advantage of mistakes scoring two more off a wild pitch and a passed ball to go up 5-0 nothing after four. The Golden Eagles went down in order in the fifth and the Racers repeated their second inning at bat. Erick Castro scored the first with a RBI ground out up the first base line and Diego Clariot brought home one more with a sac fly to right. The teams combined for just one more hit the final inning and a half as UNOH took game one 7-0.

Diego Clariot was the only Racer with multiple hits going 2-2 with one RBI. Erick Castro, Seth Freeman, Eliomar Otero and Alex Velasco each finished with one RBI.

Rolando Heredia-Bustos (2-0) and Jeremy Yurcak combined for the team's first shutout of the season. Heredia-Bustos got the start and the win tossing a brilliant six innings with just four hits and nine strikeouts. Yurcak finished the job with a clean seventh.

Game 2: UNOH 13 Cornerstone 8

UNOH faced the minimum in the first and Eliomar Otero and Tyler Grigalis combined to put the Racers on top first. The offense stalled their next two chances and Cornerstone took over with two in the third and three in the fourth. UNOH cut into the lead with two in the bottom. Two singles and an error cut the lead to two but the Golden Eagles got one back in the fifth. The Racers started to get the offense going in the sixth with a leadoff single and consecutive walks that loaded the bases. Erick Castro cleared the bases with a pinch hit double to tie the game. Eliomar Otero put the Racers back on top 7-6 with a sac fly to left field.

Cornerstone used an error to tie the game in the top of the seventh but couldn't stop the bleeding in the bottom. Two singles, two hit batters and two walks scored the first three for UNOH. A sac fly from Lincoln Hackim with an error in right field scored two more and Tyler Grigalis finished off a six-run inning with a RBI single. One hit and one error helped the Golden Eagles get one more, but the rally was off as the Racers finished the ninth 1-2-3 to take the sweep.

Tyler Grigalis and Nathan Alvarez combined to go 6-10 with two RBI in the game. Erick Castro finished with three ribbies while Alex Velasco and Justice Panton each had two.

Five Racer pitchers took the mound in the winning effort. Jack Olberding started and went three and a third innings giving up five runs, four earned, off four hits, striking out five and walking four. AJ Buchman, Sinjon Bobolia and Jeremy Yurcak combined for three innings in middle relief. Together, the three gave up two runs, one earned, off just one hit with four walks and three strikeouts. Eliott Traver (1-0) pitched the final two and two-thirds to pick up his first decision of the season. Traver gave up one run off one hit with three walks and a strikeout.

The Racers and the Golden Eagles will wrap up the series with two more Saturday, March 25. 12:00 PM first pitch.