Baseball Team Takes First Home Conference Games

AURORA, N.Y. - There is no place like home, at least if you are a Wells baseball player. The team returned from a pair of road conference opening doubleheaders last weekend to face Penn State Berks on Tuesday, April 7, for the first-ever home conference games for second-year head coach Ryan Stevens.

The Express won both conference matchups against PS-Berks, thanks to a big inning in each game. In the first game, Wells scored five runs in the third that was enough to carry them to a 6-3 victory. In the second game, a six-run sixth inning broke open a 3-3 game and propelled the Express to a 9-3 victory.

Game One

Wells finished the contest with eight hits, but half of them came in the decisive third inning by Dylan Nolan (Brick, N.J.), Justin Colindres (Clifton, N.J.), Aaron Izquierdo (Palisades Park, N.J.) and Kevin Spaeth (Haddon Heights, N.J.), with the latter two each recording multiple-RBIs in the inning.

Of the four additional hits, Nolan had two. Zack Odum (Elmira, N.Y.) and Max Odum (Elmira, N.Y.) had the others with all three of the aforementioned recording doubles on the day. Nolan finished with a team-leading three hits in the first game and a stolen base.

Prior to the bottom of the third, Berks had a pair of leads at 1-0 and 2-1 before the Express made it 6-2 in the third and coasted to a 6-3 final.

Luke Eitner (N. Lehigh, Pa.) earned his first pitching win of the season after going the distance in allowing four hits and five strikeouts.

Game Two

Derek Shea (West Kingston, R.I.) had a career day at the plate with four hits, five RBI and a pair of runs. Shea doubled and scored Nolan in the first inning and then hit a grand slam in the sixth to cement the win.

A combination of fielding errors and pitching miscues by the opposition allowed Spaeth to score the winning run in the sixth at 4-3 and then Jordan VanHerpe (Liverpool, N.Y.) gave Wells some breathing room after he crossed the plate to make it a 5-3 game. Then with two outs, Shea knocked in Nolan and both Odums with his homerun that made it a 9-3 game.

Wells plated 10 hits and after Shea's four, Spaeth had a pair. Solo hits came from Nolan, VanHerpe, Max Odum and Orlando Martinez III (Carthage, N.Y.). Nolan, Spaeth and Shea all finished with a pair of runs.

Austin Jordan (Kane, Pa.) earned the win from the hill with 2 1/3 innings of work and three strikeouts. Jordan entered the game with the score tied at 3-3 after starter Chase Sebastian (Eldred, Pa.) went 5 2/3 innings and allowed four hits with eight strikeouts. Jared Strait (Lansing, N.Y.) finished the contest with one inning of work and a pair of strikeouts.

The Express continue with conference play on Tuesday, April 13 against visiting Lancaster Bible College.