Terre Haute, Ind. - Two potent innings by the Earlham Quakers proved to be the difference as they defeated the Transylvania baseball team, 12-6 in the opening game of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference on Thursday night.

The Pioneers entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing a 17-9 run in HCAC play during their regular season schedule and took on the Quakers, the No. 3 seed. The Pioneers took care of the Quakers in both of their meetings, a pair of doubleheader wins at Marquard Field in Lexington on April 29.

But at Art Nehf Field on the campus of tournament host Rose-Hulman, the Quakers returned the favor Thursday.

The Quakers installed freshman phenom Walter Talcott on the mound, who carried a 9-1 record into the game. It was the Pioneers who gave Talcott the lone tally in the loss column back on April 29 when they posted eight runs on the freshman in just 4.1 innings.

For the first three innings, it appeared the Pioneers might generate a similar result against Talcott and the Quakers as they put up five runs in that span.

A pair of RBIs by Connor Blevins and Kody Ross put the Pioneers on the scoreboard first with a 2-0 lead after one inning. The Pioneers doubled upon their lead as Trey Simpson, the conference leader in batting average, smacked a two-run home run shot to hand Transy a 4-0 upper hand.

Earlham finally got on the board in the third inning against Transylvania starter Braden Johnson with an RBI base hit, but the Pioneers answered the score with another run in the bottom of the third. After reaching base with a walk, Taylor Henley was moved around the bases and Blake Hart drove him home with an RBI single for the 5-1 lead.

The solid lead for the Pioneers was erased in the top of the fifth inning, when a leadoff hit-by-pitch followed by three consecutive singles led to the Quakers posting four runs in the inning and knotting the game at 5-5.

Stunned but still swinging, the Pioneers took the lead again in the bottom of the sixth inning, as a Daniel Seitzinger single coupled with an outfield error allowed Rex Rogers to score from second base for a 6-5 Pios lead.

But the Quakers dropped the hammer in the top of the seventh with a five-run inning, leading to a 10-6 advantage they would not relinquish. Earlham collected four singles and two walks before the Pioneers could register the first out of the seventh inning and the Quakers never looked back.

Earlham added two more runs in the top of the ninth for additional comfort, and after a leadoff hit by Simpson in the bottom of the ninth, the rest of the Pioneers order was retired.

Earlham outhit the Pioneers 16 to 11 in an offensively busy night for both sides. Simpson and Hart each stood out for the Pioneers as both produced three-hit nights. Jared Williams chipped in with a 2-for-5 night at the plate.

Johnson took the loss for the Pioneers in a night where the junior tallied five strikeouts and allowed 10 hits. Matt Birkenhauer and Tom Banahan combined to finish the final three innings of the game, but the potent fifth and seventh innings by Earlham were two much for the Pios to overcome.

The result drops Transylvania into the losers bracket, setting up a Friday afternoon elimination game against No. 4 seed Manchester and a busy day for the winner: the victor of the Manchester-Transylvania game will face the loser of the 12:00 p.m. game between Rose-Hulman and Earlham in a game to follow the 3:30 p.m. contest.

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