MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Hendrix College baseball team scored three runs in the top of the ninth to force extra innings, then scored four in the 12th to defeat Rhodes College 13-9 in extra innings at Stauffer Field on Friday afternoon.
The Warriors (4-5, 1-0 Southern Athletic Association) gave up five runs in the first to the Lynx (6-3, 0-1), who were receiving votes in the latest D3Baseball.com Top 25 Poll. Center fielder Ryan Olive had a three-run homer for Rhodes in the inning.
Hendrix answered in the top of the second when freshman left fielder
Wyatt Hogan crushed a grand slam to make the game 5-4. Junior right fielder
Matt Simmons led the fourth off with a double and later scored on a
Logan Hiatt ground ball to tie the game. The Orange & Black gained a 6-5 lead in the fifth when senior center fielder
Collin Radack singled and was driven in from third on a
Thomas Weber sacrifice fly.
Rhodes managed two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to regain a 9-6 advantage. In the top of the ninth Weber hit a ground ball with the bases loaded that plated senior pinch runner
Austin Womack and senior second baseman
Jacob Perschke drove in two runs with a single to left to tie the game and force extras.
Two errors to start the top of the 12th set up a four-run inning for the Warriors. Radack and freshman shortstop
James Martin each had RBI in the frame and junior
Ryan Ritz had a two-run single as well.
Radack went 3-for-7 with thee runs scored and a RBI for Hendrix. Hogan had two hits, including the grand slam, and Simmons crossed the plate three times. Olive went 4-for-5 with three RBI for the Lynx. Third baseman Josh Keen also had three hits, including a double.
Junior reliever
Nick Land (1-1) earned the win for the Hendrix, fanning a career-high eight batters and allowing just three hits, two runs and two walks over five innings. Max Halasz (0-1) took the loss for the Lynx, giving up four hits, one earned run, two walks and two strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief.
Hendrix and Rhodes will finish the series on Saturday with a double-header beginning at 11 a.m.
