PORT CHARLOTTE, FL – The DePauw baseball team scored three first-inning runs en route to a 9-3 defeat of Union College at the Charlotte County Sports Complex Wednesday afternoon. Freshman Paul Mene (Falls Church, VA/ George Mason HS) and sophomore Brian Hurley (Greece, NY/ Greece Athena) led the Dutchmen, each batting 2-for-4 with an RBI. DePauw shortstop Eric Reese led the Tigers, going 3-for-4 with an RBI

 

DePauw (11-10) jumped out to a second-inning 4-0 lead, collecting three runs in the first inning on six walks and two passed balls. Matt Kleine plated Jeremy Dickinson on an RBI triple to right center.

 

Union (1-7) rebounded in the bottom of the second inning, when Zach Tillo (Lancaster, MA/ Exter) scored on Mene's single to right.

 

DePauw's Jack Gavin led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk before Dave Carson (No. Marshfield, MA/ Thayer Academy) replaced Union starter Josh McKelligan (Canton, MA/ Salisbury School). Brendan Smith struck out looking, but reached second on a passed ball. Gavin scored from third on an Eric Reese single to the left side to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead in the middle of the third.

 

Union held the Tigers hitless through the next two innings before DePauw extended its lead to 7-1 in the top of the sixth on a Smith sac fly to right and a Justin Weiner RBI single up the middle.

 

The Dutchmen rallied in the bottom of the inning for a pair of runs, cutting the Tigers' lead to 7-3. Brian Rhone (Dedham, MA/ Loomis Chaffee) drove a double to right to lead off the inning, and then advanced when Colin McKelligan (Canton, MA/ Salisbury School) reached on an error by the second baseman.

 

Mene hit a single off of DePauw pitcher Matt Westernkirchner's foot to load the bases, then Hurley drove in Rhone with a single to right off of Tigers' reliever John Tschantz. Matt Wentworth (No. Andover, MA/ No. Andover) plated Colin McKelligan with a sac fly to right to cap the Dutchmen's scoring.

 

The Tigers added one more run in the top of the eighth on a pair of errors and three base hits to seal the game, snapping a four-game winless streak.

 

Josh McKelligan (0-2) recorded the loss for the Dutchmen, whose staff gave up 15 walks in the game. Carson struck out three and gave up two runs on two hits in 3.2 innings of relief, and Andy Brown (Saratoga Springs, NY/ Saratoga Springs) allowed one run on four hits in his first career appearance of 1.1 relief innings.

 

Westernhirchner earned his first win of the season, scattering four hits and allowing three runs (two earned) with four walks and three strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Tschantz earned his first save of the season, giving up four hits and striking out two in 3.2 scoreless innings of relief.

 

Union and DePauw face each other again on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Charlotte County Sports Complex.