KIRTLAND, Ohio – The offense showed up for Lakeland baseball in its home opener as the Lakers swept Eastern Gateway Community College 10-0 and 11-5 to improve to 4-4 in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference Friday afternoon.
With the pair of victories, the Lakers improve to 7-13 overall.
Lakeland 10 – Eastern Gateway 0
Lakeland's pitching didn't let Eastern Gateway get close to the plate as the Lakers earned the 10-0 shutout victory to open the doubleheader.
Hudson Widrig got the start and only allowed two hits in four innings to get the win. Andy Gorby came on in the fifth to close out the victory by pitching a scoreless inning.
Lakeland only earned four hits but each hit was used effectively. Matt Detering belted a triple and brought in two runs. Luis Padron, Matt DiDonato and Jacob Nagy each had an RBI in the win.
Lakeland loaded up the bases in the opening inning and pushed one run across when DiDonato walked with the bases loaded for a 1-0 lead.
The Lakers kept going in the second when Jonathan Johnson led off with a walk and then scored on an RBI ground out by Padron for a 2-0 edge. Detering brought in a pair with a triple down the left field line for a 4-0 advantage.
DiDonato started the offense in the third inning with a lead-off single and then he came around to score on a passed ball for a 5-0 edge.
Padron used his patience in the fourth inning to draw a walk and then scored on a passed ball for the sixth run. Detering brought in his third run of the game with an RBI ground out for a 7-0 lead.
Lakeland took advantage of its chance to end the game early as DiDonato singled to start it off and then scored on an RBI single to right for the eighth run. Mora pushed in a run with a bases-loaded walk and then Johnson ended the game by touching the plate on a wild pitch for a 10-0 victory.
Lakeland 11 – Eastern Gateway 5
Lakeland trailed early on and faced early adversity but a five-run sixth inning helped the Lakers pull out an 11-5 victory to earn the sweep of the home opener.
Detering was solid in the second game as well as he hit a triple and a double to bring in three runs to lead the way. Jack Shepherd and Seth France each bring in two runs while Garrett Oliver and Walker Marlowe each had an RBI in the win.
Gorby got the started in the second game and lasted three innings, giving up just one earned run. Andrew Smith came on to pitch the final six innings and picked up the win after allowing just two earned runs and striking out eight.
Lakeland did strike first in the opening inning as Padron led off with a single and then scored on an RBI single by Shepherd to center for a 1-0 lead. Eastern Gateway scored one run in the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead.
The Lakers fought back to take the lead in the fourth as Shepherd singled to start it off and Detering tripled to right-center to tie the game up at 2-2. France gave Lakeland a 3-2 lead with an RBI single to left. Eastern Gateway tied the game with a single run in the sixth to knot the score at 3-3.
The game didn't stay tied for long as Oliver doubled down the line in right to begin the inning and France brought him in with an RBI double to left for a 4-3 lead. Marlowe made it 5-3 with an RBI single to center. Lakeland kept rolling as Shepherd pushed in a run able being hit by a pitch for the sixth run.
Detering and Oliver drew back-to-back bases loaded walks to give Lakeland an 8-3 advantage. Eastern Gateway scored two runs in the eighth to get within 8-5 but it would be the final runs scored by the visiting team.
The Lakers added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth as Shepherd started it off with a single and then scored on an RBI double by Detering to right for a 9-5 lead. Detering later scored on an error and France scored on a passed ball to give Lakeland an 11-5 lead that would hold up until the final out.
Lakeland will host Eastern Gateway for another doubleheader on Saturday, April 14 beginning at 8:30 a.m.
For more information about Lakeland athletics, visit www.athletics.lakelandcc.edu.
About Lakeland Community College
Founded in 1967, Lakeland Community College was the first college in Ohio created by a vote of the people. True to our mission, Lakeland provides quality learning opportunities to meet the social and economic needs of the community.
Offering day, evening, weekend and online classes, the college serves more than 10,800 credit and 2,800 noncredit students (2016). For more information about the College, visit www.lakelandcc.edu.
