HOUGHTON, NY— After nearly two weeks away from the diamond due to unseasonable weather conditions, the Houghton Highlanders split with the Hilbert Hawks on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Highlanders took the first game thanks to a nine-run offensive explosion in the fifth, 12-2, before dropping the nightcap, 4-2, behind a solid pitching performance from Hilbert's Brennan Hediger.
 
GAME VITALS                           
Game 1 Score: Hilbert – 2 | Houghton – 12
Game 2 Score: Hilbert – 4 | Houghton – 2
Records: Hilbert: 6-7 | Houghton: 5-8
Venue: Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex Baseball Field, Houghton University | Attendance: 50/50
 
Game 1: Trailing, 2-1, in the fourth, the Highlanders loaded the bases with only one out.  Jose Morales hit a ground ball into the hole between third and short and the Hawks tried to turn two up the middle.  While Hilbert recorded the out at second, the speedy Morales beat the throw to first in a bang-bang play, allowing Ian Slate to score from third and a heads-up David Mcmillan raced home all the way from second base on the fielder's choice, giving the Highlanders a 3-2 lead.
 
Over the next two innings, Houghton starter Hunter Kendall retired all six batters he faced, setting up the Highlanders big offensive surge.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Houghton unloaded for nine runs, giving a solid cushion for Ethan Cetton, who came on in relief of Kendall to pitch a perfect seventh.  
 
Game 2: After trading single runs in the first, the Hawks touched up Houghton starter Aiden Talcott for a run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.
 
Houghton cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the fourth after Chris VanCheri and Ian Slate hit back-to-back one-out base hits and David Mcmillan brought home VanCheri with a fielder's choice ground ball.  Mcmillan would steal second, but remained stranded as the Hawks worked out of the inning.
 
The Highlanders would hand the ball to veteran Ryan Newtown, who pitched three scoreless innings of relief, keeping the game in reach.
 
Houghton's Vincent Lucyszyn would lead off the bottom of the fifth with a double off the left field wall, but the Highlanders could not find a way to push the run across.
 
Again in the sixth, Houghton would put the leadoff man on base but fail to score. 
 
Hilbert's Brendan Walsh would come on for the seventh, pitching a one-two-three inning to pick up his third save of the year.
 
Hediger allowed only two runs over six solid innings, allowing five hits and striking out three without issuing a single walk.
 
KEY STATS:
>> Kendall picked up his first win of the season, throwing six innings in game one, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out five.
 
>> In game two, Newtown pitched three scoreless innings, striking out three while allowing three hits and zero walks.
 
>> Jason Kauffeldt collected three hits, two RBI and a pair of stolen bases on the day. 
 
>> Zach Parr's hitting streak came to an end in Game Two, in which he went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly.  Parr went 2-for-4 in the first game with a pair of RBIs.  He has had multiple hits in five of his first seven games this season.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"We played much better than we did against Hilbert a year ago.  They are a team that, offensively, lives on applying pressure to opponents, and we did a much better job of not only containing their running game, but responding well when they attempted to take extra bases on our defense.
 
"Overall, we pitched fairly well today, too.  Aiden [Talcott] didn't get ahead in the count as frequently as he typically does, and when he did he allowed to many hitters back into the count.  He did a good job limiting damage, but they did enough to win.  Ryan and Hunter both threw very well for us.
 
"Offensively, we had the big outburst late in the first game, which helped a lot, but we're going to need put better at bats together more consistently going forward.  We manufactured a few runs, but we're not getting big hits consistently enough yet. 
 
"I give a lot of credit to Coach Fittry at Hilbert.  He's really turned their program around.  They play hard and have turned into a very competitive program.  I especially thought that both of their starters did a nice job today.  They pounded the zone and kept us off balance." – Head Coach Brian Reitnour

UP NEXT:
Houghton will enter conference play next weekend, kicking things off with a three-game home set against Elmira College on Friday and Saturday.  Friday's single game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1:00 p.m.