The College of Wooster tied Baldwin-Wallace College 8-8 during the top of the sixth inning, only to see the home-standing Yellow Jackets' offense explode for nine more runs en route to a 17-8 upset of the seventh-ranked Fighting Scots Thursday at Heritage Field in Berea, Ohio.
Wooster (20-4), fresh off an emotional win over No. 15 ranked Marietta College on Wednesday, scored the game's first two runs in the third inning, thanks to a couple of errors and then back-to-back RBI singles from Sean Kapren (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Twp.) and Luke Sutton (Galion, Ohio / Galion).
Baldwin-Wallace (9-9) matched the Scots during the bottom of the third, then added a three-spot in the fourth to take its first lead of the day at 5-2.
The back-and-forth affair swung Wooster's way in the top of the fifth. Another leadoff error, followed by a Michael DeBord (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio / Woodridge) single kickstarted what turned out to be a five-run inning. Karpen would single with one out to load the bases, and then Sutton and Stu Beath (St. Louis, Mo. / Avon Old Farms – Conn.) each contributed RBI grounders in the infield. Matt Groezinger (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) and Matthew Pierce (Oklahoma City, Okla. / Casady School) kept the rally going with run-producing singles, the latter giving the Scots a 7-5 lead.
The Yellow Jackets would not go away, though, scoring three times for the second consecutive inning to retake the lead (8-7).
Another unearned run for Wooster in the sixth evened things momentarily, as Baldwin-Wallace would go on to tally two scores in the bottom of that frame, including a leadoff home run by Riley Kreisher, as well as two in the seventh and five in the eighth to account for the final nine-run margin.
Yellow Jacket starter Jim Jaskowak notched the win (1-3), working the first six innings. None of the eight runs he gave up were earned, while Scot middle reliever Nate Gemberling-Johnson (Wyndmoor, Pa. / Germantown Friends School) took the loss (0-1).
Offensively for Wooster, Karpen, Matthew Johnson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville), Pierce, and Debord collected two hits apiece, and Sutton drove in two runs.
The Scots could find no answer for Kreisher, who banged out four hits (4-for-6) and five RBI.
Wooster will get back into North Coast Athletic Conference East Division play this Saturday and Sunday when it travels to Hiram College (1-16, 0-6 NCAC East) for a four-game series.
