Grace traveled to Wisconsin this weekend and added four tallies to the win column with a series sweep over the Maranatha Baptist University Sabercats. The weather was chilly, but the bats were hot as the Tigers would score 38 runs over the weekend, while holding Maranatha to just 17.

“I was very proud of the guys for coming out with great energy this weekend,” commented Coach Wolfe. “Even when things did not go our way, we were able to respond quickly and regain our control of the games.”

Game 1 was the closest of the weekend, with Grace winning by a margin of just one. The action started out in the top of the first inning, with a 2-out, RBI double by Carter Willis to give Grace the lead. Maranatha answered, however, with 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Grace would regain the lead in the top of the second with a 2-RBI double by Tyler Thomas, and from there would never look back. Starter, Blake Johnson, pitched strong into the 6th inning, leaving the game with the score 7-6. With Maranatha having an opportunity to tie things up in the 7th, Iwan Sitalo came in to slam the door with a 1, 2, 3 inning to record the save.

Game 2 would be a different story, with the Grace offense continuing to build upon their success from the first game. The game was close until sophomore, Jaden Schoneman, broke things open in the fourth inning with a bases clearing triple to give the Tigers a three run lead. Next up was Lorenzo Lopez, who added to scoring by driving in Schoeneman with a line drive single to left field, one of three RBI for Lopez on the day. The Tigers would later score 5 runs in the 6th inning to put the game out of reach, and closed the game out 12-5. An eye-popping stat line for the day came from on the base paths, as the Tigers swiped 12 bases in the game, led by Jared Garnaat with 5 himself. On the mound, Carter Willis threw 5 innings of 1 run ball, and picked up his first win of the season.

Saturday rolled around and after some snow flurries in the morning, the Tigers took the field for Game 3 against the Sabercats. Both teams would open up the game with 3 runs a piece in the first inning, setting the stage for much offense to come. However, it would be all Grace from there on out, as starting pitcher, Iwan Sitalo, settled in to throw 6 more scoreless innings to finish his complete game win. The bulk of the scoring for Grace came in the 3rd inning. Everyone contributed here as the team batted around and dropped 7 on the Sabercats, leaving the inning with a score of 10-3. The Tigers added another run in both the 4th and 5th innings before Lorenzo Lopez belted a statement homerun in the 6th to bring the game to it’s final score of 14-3.

One more win in Game 4 would complete the weekend sweep, and the Tigers came out focused and ready to pounce. AJ Scott hit the first pitch of the game into left field for a single, and later scored on a wild pitch to give Grace a 1-0 lead. Maranatha tied things up in the bottom of the third, only to be answered right away with Grace scores in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings to bring the score to 5-1. Though the Sabercats made one final push in the bottom of the 6th to bring the score to 5-3, pitcher Jared Garnaat would finish what he started and hurled a scoreless 7th to earn a complete game victory of his own.

“Every player on the team contributed in some way to the wins this weekend,” said Coach Wolfe after the Game 4 win. “We are starting to see the fruit of all our labor, and it’s coming at the right time. We’ve got a big week ahead of us with more winnable games in sight.”

The Tigers’ next matchup is a single 9 inning game at Hope College on Wednesday, April 26th at 4pm. Over the weekend, Grace will host IUPUC for a final homestand at Kellogg Woods Park. Come out and support your Tigers!