SALINE, Mich. – The Golden Eagles offense came up big late in both games today to earn a pair of comeback victories at UM-Dearborn. CU scored 11 runs in the seventh inning or later on the day to earn 6-1 and 7-4 victories in Saturday's double-header. Cornerstone finishes the regular season with a 25-23, 13-17 WHAC record as they will have to wait to see if they did enough to qualify for the conference tournament that begins on May 3.
Game One – Cornerstone once again struggled to get the bats going against the Wolverines as both teams starting pitchers would dominate the beginning of game one. The first run of the game would come in the bottom of the third on a pop single by Wolverines lead-off batter Andrew Capone that scored Cole VanWagoner to take a 1-0 lead.
The CU offense would wake up in the seventh, plating their first run on an RBI single from
Jon Stewart that scored
Brandon Hepp to tie the game up at 1-1.
Jarod Burton would then break the pitching duel open with a bases clearing three RBI double that gave Cornerstone the 4-1 advantage for their first lead of the game. The offense would continue to add to the lead in the eighth, as two more runs scored on a two RBI single from
Trevor Bastien to move the advantage to 6-1. Starter
Kyle Herrick would pitch 8.0 innings, striking out four, and allowing zero earned runs to help CU earn the 6-1 victory.
Game Two – The Golden Eagles offense would get a quick run in game two, scoring the first of the game on a
Jarod Burton home run in the top of the first. CU starter
Noah Reed would struggle to throw strikes in the bottom of the third allowing UM-Dearborn to score a run on a bases loaded walk and a wild pitch that gave the Wolverines a 2-1 lead.
Cornerstone would respond though with the teams second long ball of the day, as senior
Jon Stewart hit his first bomb of the year to tie the game at 2-2. UM-Dearborn would get to the CU bullpen in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two more runs on a pair of RBI singles to regain the 4-2 lead.
The Golden Eagles offense would come back one more time for a huge top of the eighth inning though, scoring five runs including a pair of doubles from
Joe Corsten and
Jon Stewart to take a 7-4 lead.
Jon Martin would continue his three innings of work on the mound into the ninth and hold the 7-4 lead to earn his first win of the season and give CU the sweep on the day.
Starters Lines
Kyle Herrick – 8.0IP, 7H, 1R (0ER), 4K, 1BB
Noah Reed – 5.1IP, 2H, 3R (2ER), 5K, 4BB
Offensive Numbers
11 – Cornerstone scored 11 runs in the seventh inning or later in this game to earn a pair of comeback victories.
2 –
Jarod Burton (5) and
Jon Stewart (1) each recorded a HR in two.
6 –
Jarod Burton recorded six RBI on the day, three in each game.
22 – Cornerstone had 22 hits on the day, 11 in each game.
What's Next
Cornerstone will have to wait and see if they did enough to qualify for the WHAC Tournament that starts on May 3. If CU does qualify game times and locations are still yet to be announced.