FORT MYERS, Florida - March 8, 2024 - Hiram could not have asked for a better finish to its eight-game road trip in Florida, as Evan Fairbanks hit two home runs and Nicolas Chernitsky tossed another strong outing in an 11-5 win over Otterbein on Friday at Terry Park.

It marks the 10th and 11th home runs of Fairbanks' career; the senior is now tied for 10th on the all-time home run list in program history. 

"He was awesome this whole week," head coach Phil Brua said of his catcher. "He also did a really good job of building relationships with some of the pitchers."

One of those pitchers was Chernitsky, who tossed five innings of three-run ball to earn his first collegiate win. The freshman from Elyria, Ohio retired as many as nine straight hitters during his outing, as a strong command of the strike zone lifted him to a final line of 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.

"Chernitsky went out there and pitched really well today and gave us five strong (innings)," Brua said.

Hiram got the early lead on Fairbanks' first home run in the second inning, a two-run shot over the left-field wall. Otterbein later gained the lead with three runs in the fifth inning, a rally that began with a three-base throwing error.

The Terriers answered right back, scoring six runs in the sixth inning and another three runs in the seventh inning to take an 11-5 lead. The big hits came off the bats of John Bender (RBI single), Chaisson Marrs (three-run double) and Fairbanks (three-run homer). Fairbanks tied a career-high with five RBI, having previously done so on March 17, 2022 against Pitt-Greensburg and on March 2, 2021 against Oberlin.

"It was really an all-around team effort," Brua said. "What's really awesome to see is some of the guys that came back for grad school – to be able to come out and perform well."

That group of student-athletes includes Marrs, Fairbanks, Matthew Kardos, Robert James and Sam Boyle.

Kardos, Paul Barrera and Jacob Kocuba closed out the game in relief, holding off a potent Otterbein lineup and securing a 5-3 record heading into next week as well as a memorable finish to the 2024 Florida trip.

Hiram will return to action on Wednesday, when it visits Mount Union for a 2 p.m. first pitch in Alliance, Ohio.