FORT MYERS, Fla. - March 9, 2020 – Hiram Terriers baseball topped Wisconsin Lutheran College, 12-10, on Monday at the Lee County Player Development Complex before falling to Rockford University, 5-4, on their second day of play at the 30th annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. With the win, the Terriers move to 2-2 on the year. 

GAME 1: Hiram 12, Wisconsin Lutheran 10
After Robert James worked a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Terriers put together a big inning in the bottom of the frame. Kyle Harris led off with a hit-by-pitch and stolen second, scoring on Curtis Caithaml's RBI single to left-center to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.

PJ Suso followed with a single up the middle, and one batter later Zach Bailey was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Kyle Adams. Adams walked, extending the lead to 2-0, and Luke Brown struck a two-run double to left-center make it a four-run lead and force the Warriors to make a pitching change.

Hiram, though, continued their big inning against Michael Hartmann. Andrew Church flew out to center, scoring Adams from third and Michael Corsillo singled down the right-field line to extend the lead to 6-0.

Harris made it 7-0 with an RBI triple to right-center, Caithaml made it 8-0 with an RBI single and PJ Suso made it a nine-run lead with an RBI double to right-center. Bailey then capped off the inning with a two-run double to right, giving Hiram an 11-0 lead after one.

Wisconsin Lutheran though, came back with one run in the top of the second and three runs in the top of the third and fourth to cut Hiram's lead to 11-7. Matthew Schulenburg's two-run single capped off a three-run inning for the Warriors in the third, while Brannigan Hart's sacrifice fly cut the Terriers' lead down to four in the top of the fourth.

Sam Boyle settled things down for the Terriers though over the fifth and sixth, before the Terriers added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth. Vince Suso singled through the left side and Bailey reached on a throwing error to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Adams then hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Vince Suso from third to extend Hiram's lead to 12-7.

Boyle finished with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just three hits and walking two.

In the top of the ninth, Wisconsin Lutheran threatened to tie things up, cutting Hiram's lead to just two on Schulenberg's three-run double, but Zachary Scalf struck out Danny Cain to end the inning and give the Terriers a 12-10 victory.

Boyle (1-0) earned the win for Hiram, while Jacob Kopplin (0-1) took the loss for Wisconsin Lutheran. With the loss, the Warriors fell to 0-3 on the year.

Three Terriers tallied multiple hits, led by Caithaml, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI and Corsillo, who went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Bailey, Brown, Harris and PJ Suso each tallied an extra-base hit, while Caithaml, Harris, PJ and Vince Suso each scored a pair of runs.

GAME 2: Rockford 5, Hiram 4
After a scoreless top of the first, Hiram got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the inning. David Paus led off with a single up the middle and Kyle Workman followed with a sacrifice bunt, but Kent Evans Jr.'s throw sailed into the outfield, putting runners at first and second with nobody out.

Devin Houdeshell then laced a double down the left-field line, scoring Paus to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. After a walk and fielder's choice loaded the bases, Caithaml grounded out to second, scoring Houdeshell to extend the Terriers' lead to 2-0.

Stephen Javorek worked around a pair of singles in the bottom of the frame to keep Rockford off the scoreboard, but after the Terriers went in order in the third, the Regents tied things up in the bottom of the inning.

Back-to-back singles, a sacrifice bunt and a walk loaded the bases for Logan Streit, who grounded into a fielder's choice, cutting Hiram's lead down to one. Jake Bilotta then singled to second, scoring another run to tie the game at 2-2. But Javorek got Christian Garcia to fly out to left to end the threat and keep the score tied at two.

The Regents took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a run on Hunter Fiorito's RBI single to center, taking advantage of a Terrier throwing error. But the Terriers came right back to retake the lead in the top of the fifth.

With two outs, Bailey singled to second and Paus reached on an error, putting runners at the corners for Workman. Workman drew a walk to load the bases for Houdeshell, who again came up big, slashing a single through the left side, scoring a pair to give Hiram a 4-3 lead.

Javorek then worked around a pair of one-out singles to keep the Terriers in front in the bottom of the fifth and got a crucial double play in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Regents off the scoreboard.

But after Hiram left a pair of baserunners on in the top of the seventh, Rockford tied the score in the bottom of the frame. Michael Gunter reached on a fielding error and scored on Streit's double, evening the score at 4-4 and ending Javorek's day.

But Neil Robertson relieved Javorek got Garcia to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, keeping the score tied at four.

Javorek finished the day allowing four runs, two earned, on 10 hits, walking one and striking out three over 6.1 innings pitched.

Neither team was able to get much going in the eighth, and the Terrier went 1-2-3 in the ninth, giving Rockford a chance to walk things off.

A single and a walk brought Streit to the plate, who's sacrifice bunt put the game-winning run on third. The Terriers intentionally walked Bilotta, but Garcia was hit by a pitch to score a run and give Rockford a 5-4, walk-off victory.

Jake Seiple (0-1) took the loss for Hiram, while Carson Balcer (1-0) earned the win for the Regents. With the win, the Regents move to 7-0 on the year. 

Houdeshell led the Terriers at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and three RBI. Caithaml knocked in the other Terrier run, going 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

The Terriers will be back in action at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Tuesday, March 10 when they take on Haverford College at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Fla. in a doubleheader beginning at 9:00 a.m.