Orange completes sweep of Northwood baseball

Chandler Compton went 2-for-4 with three RBIs as Orange defeated Northwood baseball 12-8 on Friday night at Panther Field.

The two teams started the week tied for first, but Orange (14-4, 7-1) now leads Northwood by two games in the Big 8 Conference standings and also controls the tiebreaker after sweeping this week’s series.

In a heated contest that featured words exchanged between the two coaching staffs, the Panthers scored six times in the first inning. Northwood (12-6, 5-3) fought back to narrow the gap to 6-5 after a two-run homer by catcher Matt Oldham in the top of the fourth, but Orange promptly scored six more runs in the bottom of the fourth to lengthen the lead to 12-5.

Shortstop Logan Crabtree went 4-for-5 for Northwood with two RBIs.

In the first, Northwood loaded the bases with one out against Panther starter Derek Lindaman, who pitched out of the jam by forcing an infield pop up and striking out designated hitter Jake McNeil. It was one of only two scoreless Charger innings.

Orange’s first five batters reached, including a two-run single by Compton that scored Brad Debo and Bryse Wilson. Cole Campanile tripled to right center to bring in Ryan Puckett, followed by another RBI single from centerfielder Johnny Flynn to plate Campanile.

Northwood chipped away at the lead, scoring two in the second, one in the third and Oldham’s dinger to make it 6-5. Northwood’s Patrick Szczypinski, pitching for the first time since March 21, held Orange scoreless in the second and third after replacing starter Trent Bagwell.

Orange’s Jamiel Jordan, the ninth batter in the order starting because of a hand injury suffered Wednesday by centerfielder Jaydin Poteat, led off the bottom of the fourth with a double on an 0-2 fastball. Jordan scored off a throwing error on a bunt by Jason Slaughter.

Later in the inning, Puckett slapped a two-run single to left to score Wilson and Compton to give the Panthers a 12-5 lead.

Crabtree’s triple to right centerfield scored Brodie Beasley and Jimmy Mazurek in the 5th. The Chargers added another in the sixth when Colby Stallings (running for Oldham, who singled) scored off a sacrifice fly by Dylan Mazurek.

Lindman took the win to improve to 4-1. Eli Haithcock earned his first save after working three innings of relief.

Turning point

Jordan’s leadoff double in the fourth. It came after Northwood had rallied from a six-run deficit to make it 6-5. It started a six-run frame that put Orange ahead 12-5.

They said it

“This game reminded me of basketball games we’ve played against them. It was a roller coaster. There were runs here and runs there. You can’t spot a team like them six runs and expect to be in the game. We were fortunate enough to battle our way back to 6-5 in the bottom of the fourth. We didn’t help Patrick in the fourth. I told him he got eight outs that inning because we made three errors.” – Northwood coach Rick Parks.

By the numbers

6: Consecutive wins by Orange over Northwood.

10: Number of batters sent to the plate by Orange in the first and fourth innings.

6: Errors by Northwood, leading to three unearned Panther runs.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Orange completes sweep of Northwood baseball."