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Saran Two-Hits Oberlin, Sixth-Ranked Wooster's Offense Scores 19 Runs During Sunday's Sweep of Yeomen

WOOSTER, Ohio – Junior Nanak Saran retired the last 20 batters he faced as the right-hander was in total control against Oberlin College, and the sixth-ranked College of Wooster baseball team's bullpen didn't allow an earned run in 6 2/3 innings of work in the second game, as the Fighting Scots took three of four games from the Yeomen on the weekend with Sunday's sweep. Wooster won game one 10-0 before taking the series finale 9-6.

Once Saran settled in, the junior was unhittable on the afternoon and averaged 12 pitches per inning. The junior allowed two base runners total in the game, and those came on a pair of hits by Oberlin (10-9, 1-3 North Coast Athletic Conference East Division) in the top of the first inning. From there, the right-hander recorded one of his seven strikeouts and induced a fly out to work out of the jam before recording six straight 1-2-3 innings.

Notable, Saran also shutout Oberlin last year, and between the two games the junior scattered seven hits in 16 innings of work while striking out 13.

Wooster (13-3, 3-1 NCAC East Division) clicked offensively in the second inning with a four-run frame. Sophomore Chandler Dippman sparked the offense with a one-out double to the fence and came in to score when junior Jake Fling legged out an infield single. Then, first-year Dan Harwood poked a two-run single up the middle, and later, came in on sophomore Michael Wielansky's RBI double to the left field corner.

Senior Jake Kail is greeted outside of Wooster's dugout after his fourth-inning home run.

In the fourth inning, senior Jake Kail drilled a 3-1 pitch off of the L.C. Boles Golf Course clubhouse roof for his second career home run, and the Scots later made it 6-0 on senior Jamie Lackner's two-out, RBI single. Of note, Lackner's RBI marked the 150th of his career, and the first baseman became the 18th Scot to reach that milestone.

Two innings later, Wielansky pushed the lead to 10 with a three-run home run out to left. Earlier in the inning, Harwood delivered his second RBI base knock of the contest.

Offensively, Harwood and Wielansky combined to go 5-for-8 with seven RBI in the game, while the Scots' first four batters all recorded multiple hits. As a team, Wooster recorded five stolen bases, including two by Fling.

Wooster's fourth-inning success carried over to the second game, and in fact, that's when the Scots took the lead with a trio of stolen bases playing a key role. Fling and senior Ryan Ostendorf moved up to second and third respectively on the final two stolen bases of the inning, and that paved the way for Wielansky, who knocked a two-run single up the middle to make it 6-5.

In the seventh inning, Oberlin elected to intentionally walk Lackner to put two runners on with two outs. Sophomore Garrett Crum and first-year Dan Harwood followed with back-to-back singles through the right side to extend Wooster's lead to 8-5.

Offensively, nine Scots accounted for Wooster's 11 hits in the nightcap while the 3-through-5 hitters accounted for six of the Scots' eight RBI in the game, two of which came on Lackner's third-inning home run.

Senior Jacob Pries picked up the win with 3 1/3 innings of three-hit relief while Dippman earned his second career save with 3 1/3 innings of four-hit relief while allowing one unearned run.

Next, Wooster hosts Marietta College (6-9) at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.