LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Spalding baseball team hosted the Derby City Classic the past two weekends. The Golden Eagles grabbed three total wins. SU won 11-8 over the College of Wooster, beat North Central 14-5, and collected a 9-0 win against #11 UW-Stevens Point.
GAME ONE - SPALDING 11, WOOSTER 8
Hunter Strong got SU on the board early, smacking a 2-run homer to left field. This sent
Jacob Spanyer home as he singled to left field to begin the inning. The Spalding rally continued heading into the bottom of the third.
Ethan Tuttle singled up the middle.
Dryden Schroeder followed this with a hit through the left side, sending Tuttle home.
Garrett Mathews had not given up a run as the fourth inning approached. At the bottom of the fourth, the Golden Eagles did not let go of the gas pedal.
Evan Fisher and Strong both knocked a hit.
Whitt Callahan stepped up to the plate as he advanced both SU players.
Slade West tallied two RBIs as he hit a line drive through the left side. This extended SU's lead 5-0. Once again, Mathews held firm for SU, as he did not allow any runs in the fifth. Spalding tallied two more runs in the bottom of the fifth off of an error by Wooster.
Wooster tried to rally back into this one as they had a couple of massive innings. It was ultimately too little too late as Spalding held strong and took the win, 11-8.
GAME TWO - SPALDING 8, WOOSTER 9
It was again a fantastic start for the Golden Eagles as
Evan Fisher hit a 3-run homer to right field. It didn't take long for Wooster to fight back into this one as they grabbed three runs of their own in the third inning. In the bottom of the third,
Hunter Strong homered again to give SU the lead, 4-3. This game looked good for the Golden Eagles as
Caleb Coffey and
Whitt Callahan scored, making it a bigger cushion for SU. As the game reached the ninth inning, Wooster fought back into this one. Wooster rallied and hit a grand slam to take the win, 9-8
GAME THREE - SPALDING 4, OTTERBEIN 7
It was a low-scoring affair as it entered the top of the fifth, 1-1. Fisher scored the run for SU off of an error by Otterbein. The visitors took control of this game during the fifth and sixth innings. Otterbein extended the lead to 7-1 in the ninth inning. Spalding tried to fight back, but it wasn't enough. Otterbein took this one, 7-4.
GAME FOUR - SPALDING 14, NORTH CENTRAL 5
The weather was not great to start this afternoon's Derby City Classic game. It was a great start again for the Golden Eagles as they had a rally at the top of the first.
Matthew McDowell got SU rolling with a triple to right field. This sent Tuttle home to give Spalding the early lead. Spanyer grabbed an RBI of his own by singling to the shortstop. The Cardinals' pitcher got in trouble early as he walked four straight batters. This added to SU's total as they extended the lead to 3-0. The Golden Eagles did not stop there, as the pitcher still had problems. A few wild pitches and an error on the catcher extended SU's lead to 6-0. Tuttle capped off the inning with an RBI single. At the end of the first, SU led 7-0.
As neither team could land on the board for the next few innings, SU finally found their groove again at the bottom of the fifth.
Michael Speck singled to left field and sent Spanyer home to extend the lead to 8-0. Coffey followed this with a double of his own, grabbing two RBIs.
Joshua Wilmot and Speck grabbed a few runs as Spalding kept rolling, 10-0.
Despite the Cardinals bringing in a few runs, SU kept control for the remainder of the game. Spalding took the win, 14-5.
GAME FIVE - SPALDING 9, UW-STEVENS POINT 0
Both teams had a slow start to this one, as neither could grab any runs until the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, SU found some light. Fisher scored on an error by a throw from the center fielder. The Pointers had some trouble as they had back-to-back errors, giving SU a 3-0 cushion. Strong stepped up to the plate to end the fourth inning. He singled to right field, sending McDowell in. This extended the lead to 4-0.
Spalding's defense was strong as
Caden Krystofiak had a stellar game on the mound.
Whitt Callahan stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. Callahan hammered a homerun down the left-field line and tallied a two-run home run. Spalding did not stop there, as their lead was 7-0. Strong put the exclamation on the game as he also tallied a two-run homer down the left-field line.
Spalding went on to win this one, against the #11 ranked team in the nation, 9-0.
GAME SIX - SPALDING 6, DENISON 11
The Big Red got on the board first in the top of the third with a home run. Dension followed this with three more runs, extending their lead to 4-0. At the bottom of the fourth inning, SU finally got their groove going. Fisher homered to left-center to give Spalding their first run of the game. This sparked some momentum for SU as they got closer to the #10 team in the nation, 3-5. Despite the Golden Eagles closing in on Denison, the Big Red took control of the game. Denison closed this one out 11-6.
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES
- Spalding went 3-3 in the Derby City Classic.
- SU defeated the #11 team in the nation, 9-0.
- Garrett Mathews won Pitcher of the Week.
NEXT FOR SPALDING
The Golden Eagles will travel to Auburndale, Florida, to play Coe College. The first pitch will occur on Sunday, March 10th, at 2:45 p.m.
