The IUS baseball team defeated Berea College on March 3, despite a late start.
Travel conditions delayed the game by almost three hours.
It was a tough game for the Grenadiers, as Berea pulled ahead many times in the game.
Weather conditions also made the game increasingly difficult.
However, IU Southeast played to win.
The starting line-up for the infield included Jacob Holtz, sophomore pitcher, Justin Hurst, junior infielder on first base, Frank Pluskota, sophomore infielder on second base, A.J. Doyle, junior infielder on third, and Trey Richard, junior infielder as shortstop.
The starting line-up for the outfield included Zach Maupin, junior outfielder playing right field, Mychal Harris, junior outfielder playing center field, and Marcus Howard, freshman outfielder playing left field.
Holtz had the crowd cheering as he pitched heat from the first inning.
His first pitch of the game was a strike sending the Grenadiers into a good start.
Hurst managed to get three players out in the first inning.
Trey Richard, junior infielder, was the first IUS player to bat.
Richard was also the first player to score a run in the first inning.
The score in the first inning was a close, 2-1, with Berea in the lead.
Tyler Woolums, sophomore catcher, was the only player to hit a double hitter in the second inning but was unable to score another run.
By the fifth inning, Berea was ahead, 3-2.
IU Southeast finally pulled ahead in the sixth inning, making the score 4-3.
However, it was short-lived. Berea quickly pulled ahead in the seventh inning and scored three runs.
IU Southeast also scored three more runs in the seventh.
The final score was 7-6 in favor of the Grenadiers.
Howard said he was proud of how his team pulled ahead.
“We played OK,” Howard said. “There’s a lot to work on and things we have to improve on, but, overall, a win’s a win.”
As for improvements, Howard said he believes the problem in the game was the execution.
“We could’ve done a lot better execution,” Howard said. “We need to work on finishing games. We have always started off well, but finishing is something we’ve been struggling with this season. Hopefully, we will make up for it with this game.”
Howard is also optimistic about the future.
Christina Wood, former IUS student, was in the crowd for the game, and said she is rarely able to come to any of IU Southeast’s games, but she had a good time.
“I’m proud of them,” Wood said. “It was a tough battle, but they fought hard. It didn’t look good for them for a while, but they managed to come back and get the win.”
By SUSAN GREENWELL
Staff
susdgree@ius.edu
