LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 5, 2023) – After winning 13-0 in seven innings during day one of the Derby City Classic, the No. 12 Denison University baseball team returned to the field on Sunday and earned a 6-2 win over the tournament hosts from Spalding University (Ky.) to improve to 5-0 to start the 2023 season.

It was a battle of two 4-0 teams that took all the way until the final inning to decide a winner.

Denison started off the game with a leadoff home run in the top of the first inning by Erik Sundgren.

Josh Bohn then led off the top of the third inning with a single before ultimately scoring on a sacrifice fly to left field by Eric Colaco to make it 2-0 Big Red.

On the mound, Nick Falter and Will Rettig combined to allow just six hits, one run and no walks through the first six innings of the game.

However, the Golden Eagles tied it in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff single followed by a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, a wild pitch and a passed ball to score the run and make it 2-2.

Patrick Neenan (1-0) entered to pitch and got the final out of the seventh inning to strand the go-ahead run on second base before striking out the side, all swinging, in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Then in the top of the ninth inning, Denison loaded the bases with nobody out as Colaco led off with a single before Charlie Glennon was hit by a pitch and Ari Fierer walked. Then with one out, that set the stage for Noah Leib, who delivered a three-run double off the wall in left center field to clear the bases.

Leib would come around to score an insurance run before Spalding led off the bottom of the ninth with a single followed by a walk to put two runners on. That brought Fierer in to pitch from first base, and Fierer made quick work of the Golden Eagles to earn the save as he got three straight flyouts to end it.

Next up for the Big Red baseball team will be its Spring Break trip to the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida, which begins on Saturday, March 11, against Babson College and Mitchell College.