Auburndale, Florida — Dordt baseball split a doubleheader Monday afternoon in Auburndale, Florida. The Dordt Defender baseball team scored an 8-6, 10 inning win over Saginaw Valley State in game one, and lost a 4-2 decision to Webber International.
The Defenders overcame an early 3-1 deficit and had to fight off a Saginaw Valley State rally that sent the game to extra innings.
Logan Cline doubled in the seventh inning to start Dordt’s rally and Nick Hamilton tied it later in the inning with a single. John Emerson singled in two runs to break the 3-3 tie still in the seventh inning and set Dordt up to win the game.
The lead was short lived with Saginaw Valley tying it in the home half of the seventh. Dordt regained the lead when Chase Edwards put the ball in play and Aaron Eshelman scored an unearned run. Saginaw Valley again had an answer to tie the game at 6-6 but Hamilton eventually gave Dordt the winning margin with a double that scored Cline and Austin Pullar in the tenth inning.
Nick Yeager worked a scoreless ninth to preserve the win.
Dordt had a 15-11 hits advantage.
Cline, Hamilton and Emerson all had three hits and Hamilton knocked in three runs while Emerson also reached three times on walks.
Andrew Pullar had two hits and Eshelman scored two runs along with Cline.
Luke Turner started the game and went seven innings with one earned run allowed on 10 hits and struck out three. Caleb Pollema worked in relief and walked one with one unearned run allowed and Yeager got the win in relief with two innings of work and struck out three with one hit.
In the second game against Webber International, the Defenders allowed two in the second before Dordt tied it with a pair in the top of the sixth inning. Dordt got the rally started with a Chase Edwards walk and he gave way to Lucas Nelson. John Emerson’s single after a strikeout put runners on first and second and a passed ball put two runners in scoring position.
Connor Hommes delivered a double to tie the game but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.
Webber answered immediately with a two run bottom half of the inning and that proved to be enough for the 4-2 win in the scheduled nine inning game.
Both teams had five hits with John Emerson delivering a double and a single and he scored a run. Hommes got credit for the two runs batted in.
Isaac Vander Hart started the game and went 5 and two-thirds and struck out for with three earned runs allowed and five hits given up. Isaac Buteyn finished the game and struck out three and didn’t allow a hit or a run over the final two and one-third.
Dordt is now 6-6.
