The Denison baseball team closed out the home portion of their season with an 11-5 victory over sixth-ranked Heidelberg on Wednesday night in Granville. With the victory, the Big Red avenged a 5-0 loss to the Berg in their second game of the year.

Heading into the North Coast Athletic Conference Crossover Series, Denison knew they needed a strong showing against the No. 6 team in the nation if they wanted to carry any momentum into the three-game series with Allegheny.

Heidelberg opened the scoring when Christian Verde lifted a ball into left that allowed TJ Harkness to score from third on the sacrifice fly. DU starter Ian Walsh was able to work out of the bases-loaded jam by striking out Alex Grove for the final out inning.

The Denison offense that was kept off the board for seven innings by Sam Ankrom in their March 16 meeting got to the Student Prince pitcher in the first frame. With two on and one out, senior Ryan Mulligan ripped a single up the middle that scored Jack Blanchard from second. In a similar situation with two down, sophomore Evan Flax lined a single into right that plated Georgie Montes, giving the home team an early 2-1 lead.

After surrendering a run in the first, the Big Red pitching staff and defense kept Heidelberg off the board for five-straight innings. During that scoreless stretch, the DU bats continued to build on their lead as they scored in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

With the bases loaded in the third, sophomore Eric Zmuda drove in a pair with a double down the right line. That two-run hit knocked Ankrom out of the game. Flax welcomed the new pitcher, Jimmy Kenosh, to the game with a base hit through the left side that scored Mulligan. Mulligan delivered the big shot in the fourth when he crushed a ball over the wall in right for his second home run of the season. The senior's long ball scored classmates Montes and Charlie Apfelbach. Just prior to the Mulligan three-run homer, Montes plated Tanner Johnson with an RBI fielder's choice to short. Senior Lascelles Lagares scored DU's fifth-inning run on a delayed double steal.

Heidelberg shrunk the deficit to 10-5 with two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. However, the Big Red bullpen kept the high-powered Student Prince offense off the board over the final 2.2 innings en route to the 11-5 victory.

Mulligan sparked the offensive charge with three hits, four RBIs and two runs, while Zmuda and Flax drove in three and two, respectively. Montes came around to score three times, while Apfelbach and Blanchard each touched the dish twice. Apfelbach and Flax also recorded two hits apiece.

On the hill, junior Adam Goldstein picked up his first-collegiate win. Goldstein tossed 2.1 hitless innings out of the pen, allowing just one run with one strikeout. Walsh surrendered one run, scattered three hits and fanned two in three innings. George Steckbeck, Connor Hanrahan, Zack Davis and Kyle Colgain also made appearances on the hill for DU. Colgain tossed a hitless ninth with two Ks. As a staff, Denison held Heidelberg to just six hits.

TJ Harkness recorded two of the Berg's six hits, while Verde and Hendrixson each legged out an RBI triple and scored a run. Ankrom took the loss after allowing five runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.

With the win, Denison improves to 18-16, while the loss drops Heidelberg to 27-9 on the year. The Big Red will travel to Meadville, Pa. this weekend for the NCAC Crossover Series. Saturday's doubleheader with Allegheny is schedule to begin at 12 p.m.