EASTLAKE, Ohio - The Walsh Cavaliers baseball team traveled to Classic Park to face the Lake Erie Storm in a four-game Great Midwest series on Friday (April 16) and Saturday (April 17). Walsh improved to 21-8 overall and 18-6 in the conference with taking three of the four games on the road. 

On Friday, Walsh split the doubleheader with a 7-2 win in game one and fell 3-2 on an extra-innings walkoff in game two. The Cavaliers won the Saturday matchups 5-3 and 12-2 to end the series. 

Friday 4/16

Game 1 (W, 7-2 in 9 innings)

• Lake Erie struck first with a lone run in the second inning on a groundout. A four-run fifth inning lifted the Cavaliers to a 4-1 lead and they scored with only two hits in the frame. Brenden Spaulding singled home the first run before a wild pitch scored the second run of the inning. A sacrifice scored Spaulding by Cam Kaiser and Jacob Beachy capped the inning with a RBI single to left field. A RBI double in the sixth by the Storm cut the lead in half, making it 4-2 in favor of the Cavaliers. Beachy hammered a two-run home run in the seventh as Walsh carried a 6-2 lead into the seventh-inning stretch. Andrew Czech ended the scoring with a RBI groundout in the eighth inning. Walsh opened the series with a 7-2 win. 
• Four different Cavaliers had multi-hit games as Beachy led the way with three hits and three RBI and one walk. Cobe Hutchison and Spaulding had two hits and a walk while Kaiser tallied two hits as well.
• Drew Saunier allowed two runs in eight innings, while scattering six hits and fanning ten batters. Alex Firsdon pitched a scoreless ninth in relief with one hit and a walk allowed.

Game 2 (L, 3-2 in 8 innings)

• A wild pitch started the scoring in the top of the third inning as Walsh led 1-0 early. Lake Erie tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a RBI triple to center field. After a double by Kaiser, Jarret Lyon singled home the go-ahead run in the fourth inning. The Storm tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and earned a walk-off win in extra innings to even the series at one game each, 3-2.
• Joey Holiga had two of Walsh's six hits. Kaiser and Davis Burick reached base twice with a hit and a walk.  
• Hyatt Shenefield pitched seven innings and limited the damage to two runs on five hits and one walk. He struck out four before Dylan Corsi pitched the eighth inning with one run allowed. 

Saturday 4/17

Game 1 (W, 5-3 in 7 innings)

• The Cavaliers wasted little time as Walsh scored two runs out of the gate in the first inning on a two-run blast by Czech. Between two runs in the second and one in the third, Lake Erie took a 3-2 lead over the Cavaliers. Ben Lefebvre doubled home a pair of runners in the fourth inning as Walsh took back the 4-3 lead. Lyon singled home an insurance run in the fifth inning as Walsh started Saturday with a 5-3 win. 
• Lyon had two hits, including a double as Walsh managed five hits off Lake Erie's starter. Czech and Lefebvre each drove in two on their only hits of the day. Kaiser rounded out the hits with a single and a pair of walks. Hutchison walked three times while Debruler coaxed two walks. 
• Brant Alazaus allowed three runs on six hits in six innings of work. He struck out three batters in the contest. Cole Brogan got the save with a scoreless seventh inning. 

Game 2 (W, 12-2 in 9 innings)

• Czech got the Cavaliers on the board early with a RBI double three batters into the game. Lake Erie scored runs in back-to-back innings, taking a 2-1 lead after three frames. A wild pitch in the fourth inning knotted the score at two. A grand slam by Spaulding in the seventh inning put Walsh on top 6-2. A Czech RBI double and two-run single by Spaulding in the eighth blew the game open with a 9-2 lead. Three more runs came across to score in the ninth inning for a 12-2 final score. Hutchison walked on a wild pitch as one run crossed the plate. Holiga and Matt McGrath each had RBI singles in the inning to round out the scoring. 
• Spaulding went four-of-six with six RBI in the game. Czech accounted for three hits and two RBI. Walsh had 14 hits in the game with seven different players getting a hit. 
• Nick Lallathin allowed two runs on eight hits in five innings with four strikeouts. MJ Nara pitched two scoreless innings with Brogan and Corsi following with a scoreless frame each.

Walsh will travel to Ohio Dominican this weekend for a four-game series over three days. The series will begin Friday (April 23) with one game at 3:00 PM. Saturday (April 24) will feature two contests starting at 1:00 PM and the series will  conclude on Sunday (April 25) at 1:00 PM. 

-WC-