Spartans Score Early, Often In VictoryNORTH MANCHESTER – Manchester University’s offense was in heavy supply Tuesday, April 12, pounding 14 hits with five players tallying multiple-safety efforts in route to a 10-4 win over Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Anderson University. The junior duo of left fielder Chad Schultz (Fair Oaks, Ind.) and first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.) led the attack with three hits apiece. Schultz, earning his ninth multiple-hit game of the season, clouted his third home run and doubled and singled to go along with three runs scored and three RBI. Szarenski increasing his personal hit streak to 10 successive contests, reeled off his sixth straight multiple-hit outing with three singles and a run-batted-in. Leading them to their eighth victory in nine attempts at Gratz Field, the home team’s blitzkrieg aided sophomore Mitch McDonald’s start. The Waterloo, Ind., native worked through single-run Raven rallies in the second and third, going five and a third innings while giving up four runs on seven hits to move to 2-0 on the season. It was another shining performance from the bullpen, as junior Mason Neuman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and sophomore Brandon Eck (Fort Wayne, Ind.) held AU to only three hits while not surrendering a walk and striking out two over the final three and two-thirds. MU (14-11 overall, 8-4 HCAC) remained just a half-game behind Earlham College in the win column for second and only a game behind league-leading Rose-Hulman. The Spartans take to the road Friday and Saturday, beginning a four-game road trip with a weekend series at Hanover College’s K.T. Young Ballpark. Game times are 4 p.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Saturday.
SOFTBALL
Black and Gold use long ball to subdue AU
ANDERSON – A recent theme that has seen Manchester University’s offense use the home run for great benefits didn’t show any signs of slowing down Tuesday, April 12.
The Spartans turned heads around the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and in the region, smashing three round trippers in each end of a doubleheader at Raven Softball Field to help topple previous league-unbeaten Anderson University 7-4 and 9-4.
MU, improving to 16-8 overall and 5-3 in the league, upped an impressive streak of consecutive contests with a home run to five. Senior right fielder Ashley Stahl (Wheatland, Ind.), sophomore second baseman Laurren Ladwig (Crown Point, Ind.) and senior pitcher MacKenzie Williams (Kendallville, Ind.) all homered in the opener with Stahl’s two-run blast in the first getting the Spartans’ offense going.
“(Ashley’s home run) was very important,” Coach Josh Dzurick said. “It helped get us out fast offensively and got everyone relaxed. We were able to do the same thing in the nightcap, getting on the board first after a couple of scoreless frames. To me, that was the biggest key for us … being able to score first and having our pitchers settle in after that.”
In game two, an infield error by the home side with two outs opened the door for a five-run third inning rally. Williams doubled in a run, and freshman catcher Sydney Thompson (Logansport, Ind.) drilled a three-run homer a batter later. Thompson came back later in the contest for a second long ball, a solo shot in the fifth, while Williams added her second big fly of the afternoon in the seventh, assisting in a key two-run frame after the Ravens (13-8 overall, 4-2 HCAC) had cut the deficit to three (7-4) with a four-run sixth inning comeback.
Williams wasn’t just impressive at the plate, either. She got through a pair of two-run AU rallies in the first and seventh for a complete-game decision in the opener, her eighth win and ninth complete game of the season. Junior Anna Schillinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.) proved just as tough in game two, striking out four and allowing just a four-run sixth inning uprising from Anderson to pick up her seventh win and her eighth complete game.
“It was great to see both of our pitchers battle hard and not give in, as we knew Anderson had a good offense and could hit it hard,” Dzurick said. “MacKenzie and Anna just kept plugging away and had a solid defense behind them.
“We need to work on getting more wins to put ourselves in a position (to make the HCAC tournament),” he added. “This conference is very tough with no easy games. An effort like we had today keeps us in the hunt for what we want to do, and hopefully we have some confidence to build on.”
The Black and Gold return home Saturday, April 16. Franklin College visits Spartan Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
NOTES: Tuesday’s sweep put Manchester University only percentage points behind AU for second and just two games off the pace of league-leading Transylvania University … Ladwig, the reigning HCAC Hitter of the Week, has produced multiple-RBI efforts in five of the last seven contests … Williams’ back-to-back three-RBI efforts were her third and fourth multiple-RBI outings of the season and continued a recent stretch where she’s done so in the three of her last four appearances.
