KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (February 26, 2023) – The No. 18 Denison University baseball team won its first three games of the 2023 season at the D3 College Showcase, taking down Berry College (Ga.) 6-5 on Friday night followed by an 8-3 victory over Christopher Newport University on Saturday and a 10-7 win over Susquehanna University on Sunday.

Both Berry and Christopher Newport are receiving votes in the 2023 D3baseball.com/NCBWA Preseason Top-25 poll.
 
Game 1 (No. 18 Denison 6, RV Berry 5):

• Starting pitcher Charlie Fleming (1-0) struck out the side in both the second and the third innings and had eight punch outs through the first three innings before giving up two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the Big Red behind 2-1.
• Denison answered right back to tie it at 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning as Charlie Glennon led off with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Noah Leib.
• Denison then took the lead for good with a four-run sixth inning that featured a bases clearing three-run triple by Ari Fierer followed by an RBI-double by Jake Welsch.
• Berry tried to make its comeback against Fleming in the bottom of the seventh inning with three total runs and two unearned runs before George Viebrock entered and quickly got two outs to leave the tying run on base.
• Viebrock was dominant in relief as he set the Vikings down 1-2-3 in the eighth inning and got a pair of swinging strikeouts for the first and third outs of the ninth inning. Viebrock did not allow a hit or a walk and struck out three in his 2.2 innings pitched to earn the save.
• Fleming pitched the opening 6.1 innings of the season for the Big Red and allowed six hits, five total runs and three earned runs while not issuing a single walk and striking out a career-high 13 batters. It was one more strikeout that his previous career-high of 12 recorded during his first appearance of the 2021 season in which he went on to be named the NCAC Pitcher of the Year.
• Offensively for Denison, Fierer was 2-for-2 with three RBI's and three walks while Owen Wilson was 2-for-5.
• As a team, Denison drew eight walks on offense while the Big Red pitching staff did not walk a single batter.

 
Game 2 (No. 18 Denison 8, RV Christopher Newport 3):

• Denison manufactured a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as after Ari Fierer led of the inning with a double, Owen Wilson picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice and then scored from second base after a wild throw on a bunt single from Josh Bohn. The inning was capped off by a two-out RBI-single by Alex Vasquez to score Bohn from second.
• Starting pitcher Nick Falter (1-0) did not allow a hit or run through his five innings to start the game, and then in the bottom of the fifth, Erik Sundgren led off with a single before a two-run moon shot to left field by Eric Colaco to make it 5-0 Big Red.
• Colaco added two more RBI's to make it 7-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning after Noah Leib led off the frame with a double, followed by a walk by Bohn before Colaco brought them both home with another two-out RBI-hit for Denison.
• After the Captains got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, Charlie Glennon led off the bottom half of the inning with a triple before scoring on the next at bat on a single by Fierer.
• Fierer then came in to pitch with two runners on in the top of the eighth and got a called strike three to end the inning. Fierer would finish off the game in the ninth inning as well and finished with a line of zero hits, two total runs, zero earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts in his 1.1 innings pitched.
• Fierer also led the Big Red at the plate for the second game in a row, finishing with a 3-for-4 effort while Colaco was 2-for-5 with four RBI's, Sundgren was 2-for-4 and Jake Welsch was 2-for-3.

 
Game 3 (No. 18 Denison 10, Susquehanna 7):

• Both teams finished with double-digit hits on the final day of the showcase, but it was a two-out error by the right fielder in the bottom of the first inning that helped the Big Red stake a 2-0 lead.
• Will Rettig earned the start for Denison and allowed just two hits and one unearned run to go along with two walks and four strikeouts in his 3.2 innings pitched. Rettig then gave way to Michael Gray (1-0) in the top of the fourth inning.
• The big inning for Denison was a four-run bottom of the fourth that saw four more unearned runs cross the plate, all with two outs, as Erik Sundgren and Eric Colaco both collected RBI-singles before a two-run home run to right field by Charlie Glennon made it 6-1 Big Red.
• Sundgren then added a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth before an RBI-single by Glennon and an RBI-groundout by Ari Fierer later on in the inning got Denison to the 10-run mark for the first time on the season.
• Susquehanna used a two-out, two-run triple in the top of the seventh inning to cut Denison's lead in half at 10-7, but that is the closest the River Hawks would get as George Viebrock recorded the two-inning save allowing three hits, no runs, no walks and two strikeouts. It was his second save of the weekend.
• Each of Denison's top-four hitters in the lineup, Sundgren, Colaco, Glennon and Fierer, recorded two hits.

 
Next Up: Denison will play at the Derby City Classic hosted by Spalding University (Ky.) from March 4-5 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Big Red will start things off against No. 23 North Central College at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 4.