Bison sweep Norwich on second day in Florida

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

VERO BEACH, Fla. (March 11) - The Bethany College baseball team took both games of a doubleheader against Norwich (Vt.) Sunday afternoon at historic Dodgertown. The Bison opened the day with a 7-2 win, before closing the afternoon with a 4-1 game two victory.

THE MATCHUP

• Game 1 Final: Bethany 7, Norwich 2 (Box Score)
• Game 2 Final: Bethany 4, Norwich 1 (Box Score)
• Records: Bethany 2-4 | Norwich 0-6
• Location: Dodgertown | Vero Beach, Florida

GAME 2: Bethany 7, Norwich 2

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A lead-off double from junior John Lee (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) got things going for the Bison in the first inning.
• Senior Kelaen Welch (Follansbee, W.Va./Brooke) followed Lee with an RBI-single, while an RBI single later in the inning by senior Jacob Miller (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) helped the Bison take a 2-0 lead.
• The Bethany bats continue to roll in the next two innings. Welch delivered his second RBI base-hit of the game to bring home a run in the second, while the second home run in as many days for junior Tyler Frazee (Markleysburg, Pa./Uniontown) in the third inning helped the Bison take a 4-0 lead.
• Norwich managed to slice the Bethany lead in half with a run in both the third and fourth innings to make the score 4-2.
• The Green & White managed to plate three runs in the sixth inning on zero base hits to put the game away. The Bison drew four walks and took advantage of an error to take a 7-2 lead on the scoreboard.
• Norwich scattered hits in the final two innings, but did not manufacture any offense.

TEAM LEADERS

• Sophomore Isaac Wengert (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon) earned his first win as a starter, while pitching a complete-game (seven innings). Wengert (1-1) limited Norwich to two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in the game.
• The Bison collected four extra-base hits in the win, including the home run by Frazee.
• Frazee, Lee, Welch and freshman Camden White (Keyser, W.Va./Keyser) all finished with two hits, with Welch driving in a pair of runs.

GAME 2: Bethany 4, Norwich 1

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bison got on the board in the first inning again when Lee and Welch led the game off with singles and sophomore Kevin Marthinsen (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) delivered a sacrifice fly.
• Bethany added a second run with the help of an error by the Norwich third baseman that pushed across Welch to give the Bison a 2-0 lead.
• Marthinsen was the beneficiary of a second Norwich error in the fourth inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Marthinsen hit a ground ball to shortstop that was misplayed and allowed Lee to come across.
• Lee and Welch continued to haunt Norwich in the fifth inning. Both connected on two-out singles, with Welch's driving home senior Matt Cavanaugh (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) to give the Bison a 4-0 advantage.
• Frazee, the game two starter, shutout Norwich's lineup through six innings, but a pair of errors in the seventh inning finally chased him.
• Norwich took advantage and scored their first run on a Frazee error, before sending the game-tying run to the plate with runners on first and third.
• Woods came on to try and get the final two outs, but he hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. Despite the jam, Woods forced a ground out to second base to earn the save and preserve a Bethany sweep of Norwich. 

TEAM LEADERS

• Frazee (1-0) earned the win after limiting Norwich to one run (zero earned) on five hits with two strikeouts over 6.2 innings of work.
• Welch was a perfect 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the offense.
• Lee reached base on all four of his plate appearances and was 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

UP NEXT:

• Bethany will play junior varsity games until Thursday, March 15 when they play at doubleheader versus Marywood at 2 p.m.
• The games will be played in Fort Pierce, Florida at Lawnwood Complex (no live coverage).