Ashley Dickerson
GoSycamores.com
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Sycamore Baseball (3-0, 0-0 MVC) returned to the field this afternoon in a 12-inning 3-2 victory over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (0-2, 0-0 Summit League). The Sycamores answered in late innings to tie the game at twos, then won in walk-off fashion. Senior Kaden Moore singled in the bottom of the twelfth inning to score redshirt freshman Dane Tofteland and end the marathon.
The sixty-eight degree, overcast Saturday afternoon proved to be perfect conditions for free baseball, as both Oral Roberts and Indiana State got the bats going late in the game to send it into extras. Both Indiana State and Oral Roberts were held scoreless through seven innings, but the Golden Eagles finally broke through on back-to-back homeruns in the top of the eighth. The Sycamores answered back plating one run each in the eighth and ninth innings.
Junior Justin Hill started on the mound for the Sycamores and remained solid through 5.2 innings. Hill found an early groove, fanning two of the top four Golden Eagles in the first inning, while the defense worked behind him to field key outs. Freshman Tyler Ward made his first appearance on the mound as he threw for 2.1 innings, and senior Dan Peterson closed things out for the Sycamore crew as he finished the game with the win, striking out four Golden Eagles.
The Sycamores went down in order in both the first and second innings before threatening in the third. Moore stroked a leadoff double, advanced to third on a fielder's choice, but ran into a tag at home to keep the score at zeros.
Oral Roberts threatened in the top of the fourth inning with a leadoff double followed by a walk and a deep fly ball to put runners on second and third. Hill pitched out of the jam to keep the inning scoreless.
Junior Cody Gardner got things going in the fourth with a leadoff single that hit off the hand of Oral Roberts pitcher Nick Wood. Junior Hunter Owen got a free ticket to first, while senior Andy Young followed suit with his sixth walk of the weekend to load the bases. The Sycamores still could not send any home.
The Sycamores then put runners in scoring position again in the fifth as junior Tony Rosselli reached on an error and sophomore Tyler Friis singled, but the Sycamores still could not plate any runs.
Striking first, the Golden Eagles put themselves on the board with back-to-back home runs in the top of the eighth inning to put the Sycamores down 2-0. The Sycamores would not roll over, as Young took his eighth walk of the weekend and junior Jeff Zahn followed with a double up the middle to break the scoreless streak, plating Young.
The Sycamores plated another run in the ninth inning to knot it all up at twos. Senior Andy DeJesus sparked the offense with a leadoff double, followed by a senior Andrew Gutierrez hit-by-pitch. Freshman Clay Dungan entered the game to pinch hit and earned a free pass to first. Owen continued to be clutch as he singled to score Gutierrez and give the Sycamores new life.
With the score even at twos, Tofteland hit a long ball to put himself 90 feet from the go-ahead run. Moore wasted no time as he singled through the right side to score Tofteland in walk-off fashion. Head coach Mitch Hannahs said “We didn't have a ton of hits today, but there were a lot of clutch hits.”
Moore finished the game 3-for-6 with one RBI while the other two RBIs came from clutch hits by Owen and Zahn. Young finished the game with three walks which puts him at eight thus far this weekend. Peterson finished the game pitching four complete innings and striking out four batters to improve his record to 1-0.
The Sycamores will return to Gary Hogan Field on Sunday to play their final game of the weekend at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Be sure to follow the Sycamores on social media for live updates.
