Baseball Posts Pair Of Walk-Off Wins Over Tiffin

The Northwood University baseball team earned a pair of comeback, extra inning, walk-off wins in a doubleheader over Tiffin Sunday afternoon (April 21).  The Timberwolves claimed a 6-5 win in eight innings in game one before winning a 4-3 contest in nine innings.

Northwood is now 14-18 overall, 9-12 in the GLIAC.  Tiffin falls to 17-23 overall, 11-13 in the GLIAC.

Game one was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Timberwolves pulled off a successful two-out double steal to go up 1-0.  The score remained 1-0 until the seventh inning when the Dragons put together a rally.  Northwood was one strike away from earning a 1-0 win, but a two-out, two-run single gave Tiffin a 2-1 lead.  The Dragons then had a three-run double to take a 5-1 into the bottom of the seventh.  But NU responded with a rally of their own, plating four runs to force extra innings.  Northwood trailed 5-4 with two outs when Cody Rogers (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley) had a single that tied the game.  After holding the Dragons scoreless in the eighth, Northwood got a runner to third to lead off the eighth thanks to a pair of Tiffin errors.  After a pair of intentional walks, Jason Fracassa (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) won the game with an RBI single over the drawn in outfield.  Zac Zoellner (Traverse City, Mich./Central) had two hits and two runs scored, while Anthony Dipaolo (Northville, Mich./Divine Child) had two hits and a runs scored.  Jordan Schwellenbach (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) tossed a scoreless eighth inning to earn the win.  Steven Latos (Lloydminster, Saskatchewan/Thompson Rivers U.) pitched well despite getting a no-decision.  Latos allowed no earned runs on four hits in six innings of work.

Tiffin grabbed an early lead in game two, plating a pair of runs in the second.  The score was still 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth when the Northwood offense got going.  Zyke Bailey (Taylor, Mich./H.S. Truman) had a two-run double, followed by a double by Fracassa that plated Bailey and gave the Timberwolves a 3-2 lead.  The Dragons came right back with a run in the seventh to send the game to extra innings tied 3-3.  Northwood earned the win in the ninth inning.  Dustin Lee (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) opened the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch.  Much like game one, the Dragons then intentionally walked the next two batters.  And like game one, Northwood won the game on a single over the drawn in outfield, this time by Rogers.  Lee led the offense with three hits in four at-bats go along with a run scored.  Eric Altman (West Bloomfield, Mich./St. Clair) went 2-2, while Rogers finished with two hits and an RBI.  Sean Cunningham (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills) earned the win out of the bullpen, tossing three shutout innings of relief.

Northwood will host Tiffin for a single nine-inning game Monday (April 22).  Game time is set for 2 p.m.