The fifth-seeded Anderson University baseball team dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to fourth-seeded Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology during the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament on Thursday at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo.
Rose-Hulman (22-20) jumped on the board early, taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Dalton Busboom belted a two-run double for the Fightin' Engineers. Mason Rasmussen drove in Andy Krajecki on a groundout in the same inning.
Peter Rogers singled in a run during the second to put Rose-Hulman ahead 4-0.
Justin Reed smashed a solo home run in the fourth to put the Ravens on the board.
During the fifth, Connor Gordon delivered a solo homer of his own in the fifth to cut the lead to two.
Anderson strung together three singles in the ninth to cut the score to 4-3 with runners on first and second with one out. A slow liner was caught by Rose-Hulman shortstop Rogers. Rogers was able to double off the runner on first to end the game.
Gordon went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double to lead the Ravens. Reed added a solo homer. Luke Renard provided an RBI single while Tyler Smitherman, Griffin Wolf, Trey Dorton and Rene Casas Jr. tallied singles to round out Anderson's eight hits.
Busboom went 2-for-3 with a two-run double to lead the Fightin' Engineers. Connor O'Connell went 2-for-3 with a double. Rogers contributed an RBI single while Colton Brown and Kade Kline rounded out Rose-Hulman's seven hits with singles.
Michael Yager (3-2) picked up the win. He struck out three batters, issued two walks and allowed three runs on seven hits in eight and one-third innings. Johnathan Oliger picked up his fifth save of the season. He yielded zero walks and gave up zero runs on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
Landen Southern (6-4) was hit with the loss. He fanned five batters, issued three walks and conceded four runs on seven hits in eight innings.
Anderson continues the HCAC Tournament by taking on third-seeded Bluffton University (22-17) on Friday at 10 a.m. The winner of the game continues in the HCAC Tournament on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
