Lexington, Ky.- Hot off two dominant wins at the Transylvania Invite, the Big Red took the field against the host for the final game of the weekend in Lexington. The No. 5 Denison squad found themselves in an early defensive battle, but ultimately were able to complete the weekend sweep with a narrow 4-1 decision to move to 4-1 on the season and hand Transylvania its second loss of the year.

(No. 5 Denison 4, RV Transylvania 1)

In the final game of the weekend, the No. 5 Denison Big Red would find itself in a defensive battle with the RV Transylvania Pioneers. Senior Robbie Lee would get his first start of the season on the mound. Through the first two innings, Lee and Nathan Hale of Transylvania would trade back-to-back 1-2-3 innings. Through Denison's first trip through the lineup, no players would record a hit. Lee would strike out four in his first two innings of work.

Denison would break the seal in the top of the third inning. A pair of walks from Bobby Haarde and Jack Lutte, followed by a base hit blooper by Jack Rollo, would load the bases with one out. With a full count, Erik Sundgren would get the Big Red on the board by drawing a walk to take a 1-0 lead. After a flyout, Kelly Crittenberger would find a gap with a weak chopper up the middle that would score two. The momentum would keep rolling, as Sundgren would take home on a wild pitch to make it 4-0 heading into the bottom of the frame.

Following another scoreless showing by the defense, the Pioneers would snuff out the Big Red momentum, holding the offense to zero in the top of the fourth. However, Transylvania would find a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth after a double into deep left center scored a runner from first.

The two teams would trade scoreless fifth innings. After a scoreless frame by Denison in the top of the sixth inning, Lee would retire after 5.0 innings of work on the mound. Fellow senior, Ryan Paganelis, would make his fourth appearance of the year out of the bullpen. The Pioneers would get runners on first and second before Paganelis would roll a 4-3 double play before recording a big time swinging strikeout to slam the door shut on the Transylvania opportunity.

After a scoreless seventh inning, Paganelis would retire after 2.1 innings as the hurler. First-year Devin Parker would make his second appearance of the year in the bottom of the eighth. In his first two batters, Parker would draw a flyout to right field and a groundout to shortstop to push the Big Red into the final inning with the score still at 4-1.

The Big Red offense was shut down in their final at bat, going 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. Needing just three outs to secure its third win in a row, the Big Red defense would shine bright. Parker would roll groundouts to Erong Vega and Crittenberger for the first two outs before a three pitch strikeout ended the game. 

The offense accounted for seven total hits, led by Sundgren with two. Crittenberger led the way with two RBIs. Defensively, Denison was perfect in the field with zero errors. Lee picks up his first win of the season while Parker is credited with the save. The trio of Lee, Paganelis, and Parker accounted for nine strikeouts and just two walks in the win.

Up Next: The Big Red will be back in action next weekend for a three-game series in Terre Haute, Indiana, versus the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman.