LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 2, 2024) – After moving up six spots to No. 10 in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top-25 Poll following at 2-1 week at the D3 Showcase to open the season last weekend, the Denison University baseball team turned a one-run lead entering the eighth inning into an eight-run win as the Big Red earned a 15-7 victory over North Central College on Saturday during its first game at the Derby City Classic.

Trailing 5-1 entering the top of the sixth inning, a two-out walk by Eric Colaco started a Big Red rally that saw a two-run double down the right field line by Owen Wilson before a two-run single up the middle by Jack Lutte to tie the game.

Then after a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning by Peter Lemke (1-0), a hit by pitch by Erik Sundgren to lead off the top of the seventh ultimately led to another two-out, two-run hit for the Big Red, this time on a single to center field by Noah Leib to give Denison its first lead of the game at 7-5.

After a two-out single down the right field line by the Cardinals in the bottom half of the seventh cut their deficit to just one run, Denison struck back in a big way in the eighth inning and crossed the plate six times before the first out.

The Big Red ultimately scored eight runs on just three hits in their half of the eighth inning, which featured an RBI-double to right center field by Sundgren, another two-run hit by Leib this time on a double to right field, and a sacrifice fly to left field by Wilson.

Leib would finish 2-for-4 with four RBI's while Sundgren was 2-for-5 with two doubles and Wilson had three RBI's.

Each of Denison's first five players in the lineup scored at least twice, led by Jake Blozy with three runs scored from the two-hole.

On the base paths, Denison finished with six stolen bases and has had at least five stolen bases in each of its last three games.

On the other side of the field, the Big Red pitching staff issued just one walk in the game while striking out 11 Cardinal hitters.

Denison (3-1 overall) is now 5-1 all-time against North Central (2-4) since they first played in 2017.

Denison will return to Derby City Field for day two of the Derby City Classic on Sunday, March 3. The Big Red will battle the No. 11-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 12 p.m., followed by the tournament hosts from Spalding University (Ky.) at 3:30 p.m. UW-Stevens Point will be the fourth nationally-ranked team the Big Red with face in their first five games of the season.