Grenadiers Sweep Huntington in Friday Doubleheader

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. - The IU Southeast baseball team picked up their first two wins of the season in a doubleheader against Huntington at Jeffersonville High School on Friday.

Huntington went 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning of game one. The Grenadiers led off the bottom of the first with a single, but a caught stealing erased the runner.

Ben Berenda drew a walk to kick off the bottom of the third. Garrett Jones, who pinch ran for Berenda, advanced to second after Slater Schield drew a walk. Brayden Hazelwood singled to load the bases with one out. Trevor Campbell came through with a single to right field to give IU Southeast a 1-0 lead. Huntington induced a double play to get out of the inning.

Huntington used a one-out single and a groundout to get a runner in scoring position with two outs. A two-out RBI single tied the game at 1-1.

Mason White led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. A strikeout and a groundout followed, but Blake Cook drew a two-out walk to continue the inning. Ben Berenda came through, doubling to the right field wall to give IU Southeast a 3-1 lead. Slater Schield and Brayden Hazelwood each delivered RBI singles to expand the lead to 5-1.

The Grenadiers closed it out in the seventh to secure a 5-1 win. Luke Schafer picked up the victory for IU Southeast, throwing six strong innings. Conner Fries closed the game in the seventh. Brayden Hazelwood had three hits, and Slater Schield had two.

Huntington struck first in game two, scoring two runs in the top of the second on two sacrifice flies. Huntington took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third on an RBI fielder's choice. A fourth run was scored on a single to right field, but Mason White threw a dart to third base to nail the runner to get IU Southeast out of the inning.

IU Southeast got on the board in the bottom of the third. Brayden Hazelwood delivered an RBI single to make it 4-1. Mason White singled to left to make it 4-2. Blake Cook followed with his own single to left, cutting the Grenadier deficit to one. Ben Berenda tied the game on an RBI single to right. Slater Schield beat out a groundball fielder's choice to give IU Southeast a 5-4 lead.

Huntington had the first two batters reach in the top of the sixth. Two strikeouts by IU Southeast almost got them out of the inning unscathed, but a three-run home run on the first pitch of the next at-bat gave Huntington a 7-5 lead.

The first two batters reached for IU Southeast in the bottom of the sixth. Chase Patton attempted to sacrifice the runners over, but the pitcher airmailed the throw, allowing two runs to score to tie the game at 7-7. Garrett Jones followed with an RBI double to give the Grenadiers an 8-7 lead.

After closing game one, Conner Fries came on to close game two as well, securing an 8-7 victory and a doubleheader sweep for IU Southeast. Garrett Hill started the game and threw three innings. Zak Rasener, Oscar Welsh, Chate Amick and Conner Fries all threw one inning in the win.

Ben Berenda had three hits in game two for IU Southeast, driving in one run. Every starter in the lineup recorded a hit, and six Grenadiers recorded an RBI.

IU Southeast moves to 2-7 on the year. The Grenadiers return to action on Sunday at the St. Matthews Baseball Complex in a doubleheader against the University of Northwestern Ohio that begins at noon.