NORTH MANCHESTER – Manchester University begins a four-game week tonight as they face off against Taylor University of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Game details: First pitch is at 6 p.m. at Winterholter Field in Upland. The game was originally scheduled to be a home game for the Spartans. Live audio, stats and video are available via links at www.muspartans.com. Spartan Shorts Bolstered by strong starting pitching, the Black and Gold (3-3) claimed a non-league series over DePauw March 5-6 at Grand Park in Westfield. Sophomore right handers Taylor Kopplin and Brandon Eck proved crafty against the Tigers’ line-up throughout the first day. Kopplin, improving to 2-0 on the young season, lowered his earned run average to 1.84, striking out five and being touched for only six hits and one run in eight innings of work. Eck was just as sparkling in game two, striking out three and allowing just two runs on four hits in 7-1/3 innings. On the offensive side of the Grand Park diamond, MU’s bats came alive at key moments in both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader. In the opener, senior catcher Elliott Ford laced a two-run, two-out single in the fourth, while junior first baseman Tailur Szarenski got around on the ball in the fifth, leading to two runs being plated after a visitors’ error. During the nightcap, junior designated hitter Chad Schultz sent a single up the middle, scoring two runs in the first, overturning an early 1-0 DePauw lead, and Szarenski answered the call again, ripping a single deep in the hole at short with one out in the home half of the eighth that plated the eventual winning tally, breaking up a 2-2 tie. Sunday saw the Tigers claim an 11-3 victory. Senior infielder Sean Knepper led the Spartans’ offense with a three-for-four day at the plate which included a second inning home run, as his hitting streak moved to 12 games. The upperclassman duo of Knepper and Szarenski also harbor impressive on-base streaks. Szarenski has reached safely in 14 consecutive contests, while Knepper has done so in 13 successive games dating back to the end of 2015. Home-opening games and series have been good for Manchester University since the turn of the century. They sport a 21-7-1 record in such outings over the span. John Carroll Series: It’s a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference – Ohio Athletic Conference showdown, set for March 12-13, as the Spartans and Blue Streaks meet up for three games. Start times are 12 p.m. both days.
