The Denison University baseball team split a North Coast Athletic Conference twinbill at Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon in Delaware, Ohio.  The Big Red took the opener 14-2, while the Bishops rebounded with a 12-5 win in game two.

After two scoreless innings to open game one, the Big Red erupted for 14 runs over the final five frames, including a six-run top of the seventh.  In the third, senior Matt Forgatch belted a solo home run to put Denison up 3-0.  Ahead 3-1 in the fourth, sophomore Lowell Hall drove in Andrew Mahle on a single to the shortstop.

Mahle hit a two-run bomb to right center in the fifth to extend the DU lead to 5-2, while an RBI single by Tim Duxbury and a one-run double by Forgatch made it a 7-2 game.  With the bases loaded in the seventh, junior Tyler Nicholson cleared the bags with a two-out triple.  Duxbury then hit a two-run shot over the left field wall, while Forgatch followed with a solo homer to left.

Junior hurler Tyler Vaske went the distance allowing two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.  OWU's Eric Livingston suffered the loss after surrendering six runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings of work.

Forgatch went 4-for-5 with two homers, three RBIs and three runs, while Nicholson and Duxbury each had two hits, four RBIs and two runs scored.  Mahle also registered two hits, drove in two and scored three times, while rookie Jeremy Tirado went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in his return to the starting lineup.

In game two, the Big Red jumped out to a 4-0 lead through three and a half frames.  However, a six-run fourth from the Battling Bishops put them in front for good.  Ohio Wesleyan outscored Denison 6-1 over the final two and a half innings to secure the win.

Junior David Holmes suffered the loss after giving up five runs on three hits in three innings of work.  Forgatch, senior Peter Krieger, Tirado and Evan Nicholson all had two hits for Denison, while Forgatch, Duxbury, Mahle and Tirado accounted for all five DU runs.

Denison (12-11, 4-2 NCAC) returns to the diamond on Sunday (April 3) when they travel to Gambier, Ohio for a conference doubleheader with the Lords of Kenyon College.  Game one is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.