Freshman Tim Duxbury's (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) RBI single in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Denison University Big Red to a 7-6 victory over Oberlin College on Thursday afternoon from Big Red Field in Granville.
The Big Red took an early lead in the second inning when a stolen base, coupled with a throwing error, brought home junior Matt Forgatch (San Marino, Calif./San Marino). Denison added another run on a base hit up the middle by freshman Danny Kraus (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake) that drove in senior Zach Huttie (Cary, N.C./Athens Drive).
The Yeoman tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth on an RBI single by Matt Fish and an RBI double from Jason James. DU regained the lead thanks to a four-run bottom of the fifth.
With the bases loaded in the pivotal fifth inning, Oberlin relief pitcher Brandon Cantrill hit Park Smith (Warren, N.J./The Pingry School) and walked Aidan Lucas (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) to score the first two runs for DU. Junior Kevin Teague (Fairfax Station, Va./St. Stephens and St. Agnes) knocked in Evan Nicholson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) from third on a sacrifice fly to left field, and Lucas scored the final run of the frame on a base hit by senior Alex Horn (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville).
The Yeoman trimmed the margin to 6-4 on a two-run home run by Max Phinney in the sixth, and shrunk the deficit to one (6-5) on an RBI double by Cantrell in the seventh. With one out and a man on first in the ninth, Ben Puterbaugh laced a double to the wall in left center field, scoring James and tying the game at 6-6.
With one out in the ninth, Nicholson was hit by a Phil Bura pitch. With two down and pinch hitter Justin Vaske (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) at the plate, Nicholson stole second base second to put the tying run in scoring position. After Vaske drew an intentional walk, the table was set for Duxbury's heroics. The freshman lined the Bura delivery into center field to score Nicholson giving DU the victory.
Rookie Phil Seay (Brooklyn, N.Y./Berkeley Carroll School) allowed one run on one hit in the ninth en route to his third win of the season. Starter Freddy Marino (Shaker Heights, Ohio/University School) gave up four runs on six hits with two strikeouts in 5.2 innings, while Dale McOsker (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) surrendered just one run on two hits in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Kraus finished the game 3-for-5 with a run scored and two stolen bases, while Lucas logged a double, one RBI and one run scored.
DU improves to 14-11 on the year, while the Yeomen fall to 14-9. Denison returns to action on Saturday when they begin a weekend series with North Coast Athletic Conference rival Ohio Wesleyan University. Game one of Saturday's doubleheader is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
