#MGTop10 – #6: Baseball Walks Off CUAA at 1:26 a.m., Earns First WHAC Win

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Welcome back to the 2014-15 #MGTop10! Chiming in at number six in this year’s countdown is one of a few @MGroveBASEBALL walk-off wins from the inaugural 2015 campaign. In a game that started on Wednesday, March 18, head coach Ryan Kottke and the Marygrove baseball squad took the Concordia-Ann Arbor Cardinals into extras to win in 10 innings, 2-1, at 1:26 a.m. on Thursday, March 19. The game marked the first time in Marygrove history in which a game spanned two days when starting in the eastern time zone. 

Sophomore catcher Kyle Hartwick (Oxford, Mich./Rend Lake CC) came up huge for the Mustangs in the bottom of the 10th, knocking in fellow sophomore Chase Younkin (Macomb, Mich./Culver-Stockton College) and senior James Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Shaw University) to earn the program’s first WHAC win. Congrats, Mustangs, on earning the number six spot!

Want to get in on the conversation? Additional conversation and releases can be found on our social media pages throughout the duration of the series. Use #MGTop10 or tweet to @MGroveAthletics to interact with us daily.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE!

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ORIGINAL RELEASE

ADRIAN, Mich. – Were you up for the walk-off winner? Marygrove baseball made history at 1:26 a.m. Thursday (March 19) by ending the program’s inaugural WHAC doubleheader with a 10th-inning, two-RBI walk-off single from sophomore catcher Kyle Hartwick. After dropping the first game to the Concordia-Ann Arbor Cardinals, 16-2, the Mustangs showed the resiliency they’re beginning to be known for when Hartwick slapped a ball down the left-field line in the bottom of the 10th to give the Green and Gold a 2-1 extra-innings win, securing a split with the Cardinals in the process.

Hartwick’s two-RBI single brought the winning runs across the plate at 1:26 a.m. Thursday – 3 hours and 26 minutes or one calendar day away from a first pitch that occurred at 10 p.m. Wednesday (March 18). The marathon nightcap brought about a pitcher’s duel as the teams went scoreless into the 10th inning before the Cardinals (6-14) finally broke the 0-0 deadlock to go ahead 1-0 after nine-and-a-half. The Mustangs (2-11), a team with one late comeback win already under their belt, used walks from Chase Younkin (Macomb, Mich./Culver-Stockton College) and James Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Shaw University) to get the inning started before Hartwick (Oxford, Mich./Rend Lake CC) drove the pair in with a liner that beat the Cardinals’ third-baseman to win the game.

The Mustangs twinbill with the Cardinals did not start until just after 7 p.m. as the home Siena Heights Saints took on Madonna in an unusual WHAC day-night doubleheader.

GAME ONE – CONCORDIA 16, @MGroveBASEBALL 2 (7 INNINGS)
The big inning continued to plague the Mustangs in the opener as the Cardinals tallied 14 of their 16 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to earn the 16-2 win over the Green and Gold. The Mustangs’ pitching staff gave up nine walks in a game that saw the Cardinals post 16 runs on 14 hits.

Edwards knocked in the only two runs of the first game for the Mustangs after the senior sent a double to the right-center gap to score Younkin and freshman designated hitter Ernesto Carrillo (Dearborn, Mich./Pro Baseball High School and Academy). Carrillo started the inning off with a shot opposite of Edwards’ two-RBI double by lifting a pitch off the wall in the power alley in left-center to earn his first double at the collegiate level.

With game one always scheduled for a nine-inning game in WHAC play, the Mustangs and Cardinals ended the opening tilt in seven innings due to the 10-run rule. Game two in WHAC play is a scheduled seven-inning contest.

GAME TWO – @MGroveBASEBALL 2, CONCORDIA 1 (10 INNINGS)
Freshman Ryne Underwood (Louisville, Ky./Fern Creek High School) pitched beyond his years in the nightcap, tossing 6.2 innings of five-hit and four-strikeout ball. The freshman righty was brilliant on the mound en route to tossing nearly seven innings of shutout baseball to keep the Mustangs in the contest.

First-year head coach Ryan Kottke walked to the mound to hand the ball to senior outfielder and relief pitcher James Edwards with two outs in the seventh inning after Underwood’s gem ended with the bases loaded. Edwards shut the door from there by retiring the first four batters he faced via strikeout.

Edwards worked 3.1 innings of three-hit, one-run ball and was ultimately responsible for the game-winning run after Hartwick’s base-knock sent the senior home in the bottom of the 10th inning. The hard-throwing senior picked up the victory thanks to Hartwicks timely hit after keeping the Mustangs in the contest by striking out six of the 12 batters he faced.

Raleigh Wilson (Harrison Twp., Mich./West Texas College) went 2-for-5 in the leadoff spot for Kottke and the Mustangs in game two, while Younkin followed with an 1-for-4 day with one run scored on Hartwick’s walk-off winner. Josh Barnes (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair High School) was disciplined at the plate to post a 1-for-3 outing with a walk.

Edwards, the aforementioned winning pitcher, went 1-for-2 at the plate after walking three times (two intentional walks).