Quakers Split Doubleheader with Kenyon

For Immediate Release:
April 9, 2008

RICHMOND, Ind. — The Earlham College baseball team battled Kenyon College on Wednesday night at McBride Stadium, and the Quakers came away with a split.

Earlham won the opener 13-11 and dropped the second contest 4-3. “We played great baseball,” Interim Head Coach Joe Rodden said. “It would have been nice to hit Dan White, Kenyon’s second starter, but it’s tough to beat a good pitcher.”

The Quakers are now 12-14 on the season. The victory total is the most since the squad won a dozen contests in 2003.

In the opener, the Quakers were forced to comeback after leading most of the game. The Lords erased an eight-run deficit with nine runs in the sixth to go in front 11-10, but Earlham had a quick response. “We kept our heads up and went right back out there,” Rodden said. “They don’t give up. We’ve won several games like that.”

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Jake Carr (Richmond, IN/Richmond) tied the contest with a run-scoring single. After senior Eric Sturgeon (Logansport, IN/Logansport) grounded out, first-year Andrew Morrical (Summitville, IN/Madison-Grant) gave the Quakers a 12-11 lead with a RBI single. Junior Tilmon Clark (Winchester, IN/Winchester) knocked in Morrical with a triple for the final tally.

First-year Adam Painter (Ft. Wayne, IN/Snider), who was Earlham’s third pitcher, picked up the win. Painter (2-4) gave up two runs on three hits over the final 1⅔ innings. First-year Corey Murray (Richmond, IN/Richmond) started the game and worked into the sixth inning before giving way to junior Corey Gareri (Thorntown, IN/Western Boone). Murray gave up four runs on five hits.

Building the lead

Kenyon scored twice in the second inning, but the Quakers tied the contest in the bottom of the frame. Morrical made it 2-1 with a RBI double, and then Carr knotted the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly.

Earlham scored three times in the third to take a 5-2 lead. Carr and Sturgeon each had sacrifice flies, while Morrical came home on a passed ball.

First-year Kyle Ripperger (Richmond, IN/Richmond) put the Quakers up 6-2 in the fourth by knocking in a run on a fielder’s choice. Later in the inning, junior Danny Bridge (Logansport, IN/Lewis Cass) was the back end of a double steal with Ripperger to make it 7-2.

Painter’s three-run homer in the fifth gave the Quakers their 10-2 advantage before Kenyon rallied to take the lead.

Morrical led the Quakers with four hits, while first-year Kyle Stauffer (Kettering, OH/Fairmont) added three hits.

Second game

White (3-2) went the distance for Kenyon (16-11) in game two. “He threw a great game and we got three hits off him,” Rodden said. “We had an opportunity to get the runs in, but we couldn’t get hits in the clutch.”

Trailing 4-3, in the fourth inning the Quakers had the tying run at third base and failed to score. The next frame Earlham had runners at second and third with one out, but couldn’t get the key hit.

Junior Alex Anderson (Logansport, IN/Logansport), Ripperger and Morrical had the hits for the Quakers.

On the mound, Anderson (3-4) went six innings surrendering four runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Sturgeon worked a perfect seventh with two strikeouts.

Earlham entertains Wabash College for a North Coast Athletic Conference West Division series. Saturday, the two teams play a doubleheader on campus at 1 p.m. On Sunday, there are two more contests scheduled with the first game at McBride Stadium starting at noon.

Ohio Wesleyan

Despite getting great pitching overall and lowering the team ERA during the series against OWU, the Quakers were swept by the defending NCAC Champion and 2007 Mid-East Region Runners Up.

Painter Whitewashes Berea College

For Immediate Release:
April 2, 2008

RICHMOND, Ind. — There was some Arm & Hammer used on Wednesday afternoon at McBride Stadium, but it wasn’t the famous baking soda. It was first-year Adam Painter.

With his arm, Painter (Ft. Wayne, IN/Snider) tossed an eight-hit shutout in the opener. Then with his bat, he blasted a two-run homer to give the Quakers the lead for good in the second contest as the Earlham College baseball team swept Berea College 12-0 and 8-2.

On the mound in the first game, Painter (1-3) also had three strikeouts and only one walk through seven innings. “The player of the day was Adam Painter,” Interim Head Coach Joe Rodden said.
“This was his best start of the season and he had all of his pitches working.”

The hammer came in the form of Painter’s only hit on the day, but it was his long ball to left that erased an early 1-0 deficit in the second game and sent the Quakers to the closet to get a broom. With the sweep, the Quakers have won three in a row.

The opener

Earlham scored in the bottom of the first to set the tone of the afternoon on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Jake Carr (Richmond, IN/Richmond).

Berea threatened in the third with the bases loaded and no one out, but Painter and his teammates worked out of the jam without any damage.

In the bottom of the third, Earlham made it 2-0 on a run-scoring double by first-year Kyle Ripperger (Richmond, IN/Richmond).

Carr had a RBI double in the fifth to give the Quakers a 3-0 advantage and later in the same frame, Ripperger added two more runs with a double to make it 5-0.

A seven-run rally in the sixth ended any chance that Berea had of coming back. Carr, first-year Corey Murray (Richmond, IN/Richmond), first-year Kyle Stauffer (Kettering, OH/Fairmont), first-year Andrew Morrical (Summitville, IN/Madison-Grant), junior Alex Anderson (Logansport, IN/Logansport) and first-year Jesus Jimenez (Chicago, IL/Archbishop Quigley) all knocked in runs as the Quakers sent 12 batters to the plate.

For the game, Carr and Ripperger led the Quakers with three hits each.

More pitching

Junior Randy Kerns (West Manchester, OH/National Trail) went the distance in the second game on the mound for the Quakers. Kerns (3-1) surrendered six hits, two runs with only one being earned, while striking out three and walking one.

After Berea scored an unearned run in the second inning, Painter gave the Quakers a 2-1 lead with his mighty swing.

The scored stayed that way until Earlham scored twice to make it 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI single by senior Eric Sturgeon (Logansport, IN/Logansport) and a sacrifice fly by Carr.

Two-run singles by junior Tilmon Clark (Winchester, IN/Winchester) and Sturgeon in the sixth inning gave the Quakers an 8-1 lead before Berea scored the final run of the day in the seventh.

Sturgeon and Clark led the Quakers with two hits apiece in the second contest.

Earlham (11-9) is at North Coast Athletic Conference foe Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday. The Quakers are 1-1 in the conference as they prepare for the doubleheader, which starts at 1 p.m.