FORT MYERS, Fla. - March 8, 2020 – Hiram Terriers baseball split a pair of matchups against Thiel and Rockford to open the 2020 season at the 30th Annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, walking off to beat the Tomcats, 5-4, before falling to the Regents, 15-0 on Sunday at the Lee County Player Development Complex. With the win, the Terriers move to 1-1 on the year.

GAME 1: Hiram 5, Thiel 4
Both the Terriers and Tomcats left runners on the first two frames, before Thiel struck first in the top of the third. Jamin Wentling reached on an error to lead off the inning and took third on Griffin Curry's sacrifice bunt. Seth Johnson flied out, but Anthony Rago reached on another error, scoring Wentling to give the Tomcats a 1-0 lead.

And after the Terriers left two more on in the bottom of the third, Thiel extended their lead in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back one-out singles put runners on first and third for Wentling, who reached on a fielder's choice to make it a 2-0 Tomcats' lead.

Thiel added another run on Christian Aldrich's sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, extending the Tomcats' lead to 3-0, before Hiram finally broke through in the bottom of the inning.

With two on and one out, Curtis Caithaml shot a single up the middle, scoring Andrew Church from third to make it a 3-1 lead. And one batter later, Zachary Bailey found a hole, singling through the right side to score a pair and tie the game at three.

Justin Humphry, who relived Phillip Moore, worked around a pair of hits to keep things tied in the sixth, but the Tomcats scratched out a run in the seventh. Rago led off the inning with a double, and though Humphry got the next two batters, Dylan Gurski poked a single into right, giving Thiel a 4-3 lead.

The Terriers and Tomcats went in order in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, before Hiram threatened in the bottom of the frame. The Terriers loaded the bases, but Travis Harvey got out of the jam unscathed.

Humphry again worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, and the Terriers came up to bat looking to send the game into extras or walk things off.

Kyle Workman reached first on an error to lead off the inning, and moved to second on Church's sacrifice bunt. Kyle Harris smoked a double to left center, scoring Workman to tie the game at 4-all, before Caithaml came through with a walk-off, RBI single down the left-field line, giving the Terriers a 5-4 victory.

Humphry (1-0) earned the win for Hiram, allowing one run on four hits, walking one and striking out three over 4.2 innings pitched. Moore got the start for the Terriers, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits, walking two and striking out one.

Harvey (0-1) took the loss for the Tomcats, who fell to 5-3 with the loss.

Caithaml led the Terriers at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Harris went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, two runs scored and an RBI, while Bailey went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

GAME 2: Rockford 15, Hiram 0
After the Terriers left one on in the top of the first, the Regents scored four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. Christian Garcia's two-run double capped a four-run frame for Rockford, but Daniel Quintero Jr. struck out the side to prevent any further damage.

However, the Regents added two more runs in the bottom of the second and three in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 9-0.

Hiram threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases, but Christian Pearcy struck out Mike Eversole to get out of the inning without allowing a run.

Rockford then added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, three in the bottom of the sixth and one more in the bottom of the eighth to finish off the 15-0 victory.

Quintero Jr. (0-1) took the loss for the Terriers, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four over 2.0 innings pitched.

Pearcy (2-0) earned the win for the Regents, striking out 11 over 6.0 innings pitched, while Kerrick Jones recorded a save. With the win, Rockford remained undefeated, moving to 6-0 on the year.

The Terriers will be back in action on Monday, March 9 when they continue play at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. with a matchup against Wisconsin Lutheran at 9:00 a.m. and a re-match again Rockford at 12:00 p.m. at the Lee County Player Development Complex.