PIQUA, Ohio – Lakeland baseball finished off the regular season strong with a sweep of Edison State Community College by the scored of 14-5 and 10-8 Sunday afternoon.
The pair of victories improves the Lakeland record to 13-23 and 7-13 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference play. The Lakers end the regular season with a four-game winning streak and have won five of their last six games.
Lakeland 14 – Edison State 5
Lakeland erased an early deficit and exploded for 14 runs in the final five innings to beat Edison State 14-5 in the opening game.
Matt Detering hit a double and a single while bringing in three runs while Matt DiDonato also brought in three runs and hit two singles. Luis Padron, Austin Mora and Kyle Espineli each had two RBIs while Alec Guy brought in one run.
Andrew Smith picked up the win on the mound by pitching all seven innings and allowing just three runs while striking out seven.
Edison State jumped out to a 1-0 lead after an inning but Lakeland charged back in the third inning. Garrett Oliver started the inning with a double and scored the first run. Mora blasted a two-out single and scored the second run and then Jack Shepherd gave the Lakers a 3-1 lead after reaching base with a walk and then scoring. Edison State leveled the score at 3-3 with two runs in the bottom of the third.
Lakeland took the lead for good in the fourth inning Oliver, Guy, Padron, Mora, Shepherd and Espineli each scored a run in the inning to give the Lakers a 9-3 lead. Edison State scored one run in the bottom half to get within 9-4.
Mora and Shepherd made Edison State pay as both players drew walks and then scored to increase the lead to 11-4 in the fifth.
Espineli started off the sixth inning with a double and scored the 12th run and then DiDonato singled and then scored for a 13-4 lead. Detering scored an insurance run in the seventh to give Lakeland a 14-4 lead. Edison State scored one run in the bottom half but still lost by nine runs.
Lakeland 10 – Edison State 8
Lakeland scored the first eight runs of the game and nearly let the lead slip away but the Lakers held on for a 10-8 victory to secure the sweep over Edison State.
Detering knocked two singles and brought in two runs, Oliver hit a double and a single and brought in a pair while Guy had two RBIs and a single. Padron, Mora, Espineli and Seth France each had an RBI in the win.
Andy Gorby picked up the win on the mound by pitching six and 1-3 innings and allowing just five earned runs and striking out five. David Kalinowski came on in the seventh and got the final out to earn the save, his first of the season.
Lakeland got going offensively in the fourth inning as Espineli reached on a fielder's choice and later scored the first run of the game. Oliver, France and Guy each scored in the inning for a 4-0 Lakeland lead.
The Lakers continued to build in their lead in the sixth as Padron and Mora singled and scored at the top of the lineup for a 6-0 lead. Detering and Espinei later scored in the inning to give Lakeland an 8-0 lead. Edison State did get on the board with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to get within 8-2.
Lakeland went after some essential insurance runs in the seventh as Guy reached on an error and scored the ninth run. Padron later doubled and scored for a 10-2 lead. Edison State nearly came all the way back in the bottom half with six runs but Lakeland held on for the 10-8 win.
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.