UNOH Walks Off in Thrilling 11-Inning Showdown to Open WHAC Tourney
| Final (11) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Siena Heights | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 1 |
|
(RV) Northwestern Ohio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 1 |
ROCKFORD, MI - The WHAC's top seed needed extras to dispose of the bottom seed in a grueling 11-inning bout on opening day of the WHAC Tournament. When it was all settled, it was the Racers prevailing over Siena Heights 7-6 thanks to a walk off RBI-single in the bottom of the eleventh inning.
Offense was in short supply through the first five frames with the Saints holding a 2-0 advantage heading into the sixth. The Racers finally broke through in the bottom of the inning as Noah Matheson ripped a two-run homer down the line and Devon Tukes added another with a double to give them a 3-2 lead. Siena Heights answered right back scoring two in the seventh to go back on top and adding another in the eighth. It was Matheson answering the call again blasting his second two-run bomb of the day in the bottom of the frame to tie the game at 5-5 heading into the ninth.
After the Saints grabbed the lead again in the top, a third Racer home run, this time of the bat of freshman Kole Huffman, answered once more and sent the game into extra innings. A scoreless tenth set up the final stage where Siena Heights worked a runner to third but could get him home. UNOH used three straight singles to finally finish off the game capped by a Joskar Feliciano walk off to the right center gap.
Feliciano ended the game 3-5 with his only RBI coming in the form of a game winner. Matheson led with four RBI on 2-5 hitting while Kole Huffman and Jacob Watson each finished 3-4 on the day.
Six different Racers combined for the eleven innings with Josh Mauney (5-1) ending up as the benefactor. Mauney threw the final two innings of the game to earn the win allowing just two hits with no walks and one strikeout.
The win advances UNOH to day two of the WHAC Tournament where they will face fourth-seed Aquinas. The Saints survived their day one matchup against Madonna 8-7, also in walk off fashion. With inclement weather expected early in the day, the game has been pushed back to 4:00 PM on Thursday, May 1 at the Meijer Sports Complex in Rockford, Michigan.