HOUGHTON, NY—With a sea of white surrounding the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, the Houghton Highlander bats brought some heat to the day, pounding out 26 runs on 28 hits in a doubleheader sweep of the Medaille Mavericks.
 
GAME VITALS                           
Game 1 Score: Medaille – 8 | Houghton - 11
Game 2 Score: Medaille – 9 | Houghton – 15
Records: Medaille: 6-6 | Houghton: 4-5
Venue: Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, Houghton College | Attendance: 50
 
Game 1: After the Mavericks plated a run in the first, Houghton answered with three in the bottom half of the opening inning thanks to a Ben Closson double and a pair of fielding mistakes by the defense.
 
Houghton would tack on four more in the fourth thanks to six hits, including a clutch two-RBI triple to the gap by Closson.
 
The Highlanders took a 11-4 lead into the seventh, but the Mavericks continued to fight, plating three runs in their final at bat before Caleb Philips recorded the final out.
 
Game 2: Houghton jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two frames, scoring three in the first and four in the second, including a three-run blast over the left-center wall by Closson.
 
Medaille clawed back into the game in the third with five runs of their own, but the Highlanders answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and five more in the fourth to make the score 15-5.
 
The Mavericks would trim the Houghton lead to six, scoring two runs in the fifth and another in the seventh, but Nicholas Melchiore came on to close the door for the Highlanders, allowing only one run over 2.1 innings of work.
 
KEY STATS:
>> Closson finished his day 5-for-9 with a double, a triple, a homerun, four runs scored and eight RBI.  He also threw out two of the three baserunners who attempted to steal on him from behind the dish.
 
>> Tage Johnson finished 5-for-7 with three doubles and a triple, to go along with two runs scored and two RBI.
 
>>Whitney Cook posted four hits on the day, and Taylor Huntsman and David Wessells each added three apiece.  Cook and Wessells also each added two stolen bases apiece.
 
>> Victor Cavalieri picked up his second win of the year in five innings of work in Game One.  Cavalieri struck out nine batters and allowed only one earned run.  He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.
 
COACH'S CORNER:
"It was great to see our offense come alive today, and our defense made some tremendous play behind our pitchers.
 
"We ran the bases aggressively and were able to produce runs in a number of ways, and in bunches.
 
"Medaille always seems to play us tough and they never went away.  We would build a good lead and they would claw back in.  The good part for us, though, is that every time they scored we answered.
 
"We have some things to work on before conference play next weekend, but I'm very pleased with our efforts today.  Our guys should sleep well tonight." –Coach Brian Reitnour
 
UP NEXT:
Houghton is scheduled to take on the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford on Monday at 3:30 and 6:30 at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.