Trojans top Bearcats in rivalry

By rscaife
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Updated: April 20, 2017

By Kenny Varner

MOUNT UNION – One of the signs of a good team is one that can overcome all kind of obstacles, especially ones they make themselves.
What started out as a shaky start for the undefeated Mount Union baseball team ended in triumph as the Trojans overcame four first inning errors and rebound to a 14-8 victory over rival Huntingdon Wednesday night in a two hour and forty-five minute contest.
Despite early precipitation early in the day, the skies dried up and the rivalry continued.
Zach Brenneman picked up the hard fought victory for the Trojans while Landon Fisher took the loss.
Brenneman finished with four strikeouts on the night and had a no-hitter going into the third.
“These guys keep fighting. They were behind a. Purple of runs but the showed patience and again showed a great attitude,” Mount Union manager Tim Hicks said. “Excellent job tonight by Brenneman getting out of trouble numerous times this evening.”
It was not a picture perfect day for either of the defenses as Mount committed five errors total while the Bearcats tallied four.
Offensively, Mount Union was led by Dylan Gearhart’s 2-for-4 effort. He also scored a run.
Teammate Matt Harshbarger also went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
In the first inning, Mount Union struggled as lead-off hitter Nick Zanic reached on a Trojan miscue.
He stole second and was sacrificed to third on a sac bunt by Nick Halesa.
Jared Showalter followed by reaching on a Mount Union miscue which also allowed Zanick to score the first run of the game.
Showalter would also score thanks to an error that allowed teammate Drew Neglore to reach, making it 2-0.
Mount Union was able to shut things down in the rest of the inning to avoid more than just a 2-0 deficit.
With its turn in the first, the Trojans battled to tie the game ending the Bearcats earlier momentum.
With one out, Ethan Carbaugh walked and moved to second on a single by Gearhart.
Third baseman Quinten Posey loaded the bases with a walk.
Patience paid off for Devan Pearce as he also walked to allow Carbaugh to walk home.
Gearhart reached home on a fielders choice by Harshbarger, tying the game going into the second.
Brenneman held Huntingdon at bay in the second, sending them down 1-2-3.
In the bottom of the inning, the Mount Union bats started to heat up, playing three more runs.
Cade Wilson and Grayson McClain led off with consecutive walks.
Carbaugh picked up an RBI when he hit a shot into right.
With McClain moving up to third on Carbaugh’s single, he then took advantage of a wild pitch to earn his way home.
With Carbaugh stealing second, he later scored thanks to two more wild pitches by Fisher, giving the Trojans a comfortable 5-2 advantage going into the third.
Huntingdon lowered the lead to just two as it picked up a run in the top of the third.
However, Mount Union’s scoring was just getting started, picking up five runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning, taking a commanding 10-3 lead going into the fourth.
Mount Union would get their lead to 14-6 going into Huntingdon’s last at bats but despite playing two runs in the top of the seventh, the Bearcats could only get it as close as 14-8 before the Trojans closed it out.
With the win Mount Union ups its record to a perfect 9-0 for the first Year coach.
Next week the cards are stacked against the Trojans as they have five games in as many days.