Freshman shortstop Tim Duxbury (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) blasted a grand slam home run in the top of the ninth to lift the Denison Big Red to a 5-3 victory over Thomas More College on Wednesday from Thomas More Field in Crestview Hills, Ky.
After four scoreless innings, Denison jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the heels of a solo home run by junior outfielder Peter Krieger (New Canaan, Conn./New Canann). Krieger's fourth homer of the season sailed over the center field wall.
The Saints posted three runs in the sixth to take their only lead of the day. Following back-to-back base hits by Sam Schmeltzer and Andrew Thole, Marty Kersting cleared the bases with a one-out double to left center field. Thomas More tacked on an insurance run in the frame on an RBI single by Max Robbins that plated Kersting.
The two squads went scoreless over the next two innings setting the stage for a dramatic ninth. Ahead 3-1, the Saints brought in reliever David Etscheid to close out the final frame. The freshman pitcher issued free passes to pinch hitters David Holmes (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Lowell Hall (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) to open the frame. After the back-to-back walks, Thomas More put the ball in the hands of rookie Grant Lewis. Lewis surrendered a bunt single to senior Park Smith (Warren, N.J./The Pingry School) to load the bases for the Big Red.
Following a strikeout by Krieger, Duxbury stepped up to the plate looking to trim the two-run margin. The first-year infielder did more than that as he belted a grand slam home run over the left field to put Denison up 5-3. The long ball was the first of Duxbury's collegiate career, and the second of the game for DU.
Now leading by two runs heading in the last half of the ninth, the game was placed in hands of Denison reliever Tyler Vaske (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West). The sophomore hurler started off the frame by striking out TJ Souder, and followed that up by getting Chris Fishburn to ground out to Duxbury at short. With two outs, Vaske secured his first win of the year after Schmeltzer flied out to left fielder Andrew Mahle (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery) for the final out of the game.
Vaske surrendered just one hit, struck out three and walked one in 3.1 innings in relief. Starter Nick Smith (Mirror Lake, N.H./Holderness School) allowed three runs on six hits in 5.2 innings.
Denison improves to 9-6 overall, while Thomas More falls to 4-7. The Big Red returns to action on Saturday when they host Earlham College to open North Coast Athletic Conference action. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
