Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania baseball team displayed its full repertoire in sweeping the Hanover College Panthers, 11-8 and 5-4 on Wednesday evening at Legends Ballpark.
In a matchup of the top two teams in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Pioneers poured on the offense in the midweek opener to clinch one victory against the Panthers before using a walk-off RBI single from Michael Blair in the bottom of the ninth to complete the doubleheader sweep.
The Pioneers climbed to the top of the HCAC standings following Wednesday's proceedings with a 7-2 record while the Panthers fell to 7-4 overall.
In both games, Transy's starting pitchers each tossed six quality innings to bolster the defensive attack while a full cadre of hitters collaborated to form a relentless offense through the duration of the evening.
Game one starter Evan Hall enjoyed an exceptional outing, dealing a career-high 11 strikeouts, his most since the second start of his career in 2018 versus Defiance.
Hall received plenty of assistance from the Pioneer batting order, led by Riley Willbur, who matched a career-high with three doubles on the way to an electric 5 for 5 night at the plate in the opener, including a solo home run in the second inning.
Hall's career night was buoyed by a quick start on offense by the Pioneers, who tallied four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Trent Youngblood and Hudson Chastain sandwiched Willbur's first double of the game with bases on balls.
After Youngblood came home on a wild pitch from third, TJ Keck cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left field to put the Pioneers ahead, 4-0. Michael Blair and Wade Lopiccolo followed with base hits to knock out Panther starting pitcher Wyatt Prather before an out was recorded to set the tone for a high-octane game on offense.
Willbur's solo home run in the following inning strengthened Transy's lead to 5-0 and Blair added an RBI double later in the second inning to grow the advantage to 6-0 in favor of the Pioneers.
Hall grew stronger as the game grew longer as the senior struck out the side in the third inning on three consecutive strikeouts. Starting with the last batter faced in the second inning through the first batter faced in the fifth, Hall retired seven of nine batters on strikeouts, including four straight at one point.
Transylvania registered nine extra-base hits in the game, including five doubles, three triples, and two home runs.
Hudson Chastain went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Blair had a 2 for 5 game at bat and added a double while Lopiccolo went 2 for 4 with a triple.
Hall wrapped up his first win of the season, going six innings with 11 strikeouts, three hits allowed, and no earned runs allowed.
Hanover took a 2-0 to begin game two with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. Willbur cut the Panther lead in half in the bottom of the first by scoring Youngblood on an RBI double and his sixth straight hit to begin the night.
The Panthers found another run in the second on a sacrifice fly RBI to stretch their advantage to 3-1. But after posting three runs in the first two innings against starting pitcher Robby Arnett, the freshman held Hanover in check over the following four innings on the way to a six-inning no decision performance. Arnett struck out six, allowing four hits, four walks, and three earned runs in his second collegiate appearance.
Arnett's lockdown pitching set the stage for a gradual comeback for the Pioneers, ignited by a sacrifice fly RBI from Parker Tuszynski to make it a 3-2 ballgame in the bottom of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Trent Pahl led off with a base hit and Youngblood reached with an error on a bunt. With two on, Chastain powered the Pioneers to their first lead of the game with a two-run single on a hard hit to left field for a 4-3 Transylvania advantage.
Hanover struck back in the eighth inning with a pair of base hits to left to score the tying run, squaring the game once more at 4-4.
After allowing a lead-off hit by pitch, Jared Leuthart closed the final Hanover threat in the top of the ninth by throwing out the lead runner at second on a stolen base attempt, and generated back-to-back groundouts to send the game into the bottom of the ninth tied.
Pahl initiated the final Wednesday rally with a lead-off single up the middle with no outs, and Youngblood moved Pahl to second with a sacrifice bunt. The Panthers then intentionally walked Willbur and Chastain for a double play opportunity. Blair quelled Hanover's hopes for a defensive boon with a no-doubt single into centerfield to bring Pahl across the plate for the fifth and final run of the game.
Blair finished game two 3 for 4 from the plate with a double, an RBI, and a hit by pitch. Pahl was the other multi-hit performer for the Pios in game two with a 2 for 4 showing at bat. Leuthart earned the game two win in his first appearance of the season.
Transylvania returns to play on Saturday, March 27 against the Mount St. Joseph University Lions in Florence, Kentucky in a conference doubleheader. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00 noon from UC Health Stadium.
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