Pride No Match For Dragons' Bats

Jake Monnin earned his first victory on the hill for Tiffin, tossing six shutout innings in the Dragons' 7-0 win.
Jake Monnin earned his first victory on the hill for Tiffin, tossing six shutout innings in the Dragons' 7-0 win.

The Tiffin University baseball team had the bats rolling in game one of their series with Purdue Northwest, and the pitching staff was equally great, shutting out the Pride 7-0.

Starting pitcher Jake Monnin was on from the start, surrendering only two hits over the course of the first four innings. Tiffin's offense kept pushing the envelope but kept coming up empty, stranding the bases loaded in the 3rd, and runners at second and third in the 5th inning.

The offense came to life in the 6th inning for Tiffin, with Ryan Thomas reaching on an error. Jack Dennis then clobbered a two run homer to right field to give Tiffin a 2-0 lead. Kyle Vance then singled and moved to second on an error. A passed ball enabled Vance to reach third base, and a wild pitch allowed Vance to roll to the plate to give Tiffin a 3-0 advantage.

Tiffin was back on the attack an inning later, using a pair of walks to put two on. With two outs and a pair aboard, Noah Heard sliced a single to right field to make it 4-0 Tiffin. A hit by pitch loaded the bases for Tiffin, and Brayden Callihan pushed two more runs to the plate with a single back up the box to give Tiffin another three run frame and a 6-0 lead. The bullpen kept the Pride quiet at the plate, and Tiffin's offense added another run in the 8th for good measure. 

John Heckman walked to start the 8th, and then swiped second. A Ryan Thomas single allowed Heckman to move to third base, and Jack Dennis collected another run batted in with a ground out to give Tiffin a 7-0 lead.

Jake Monnin earned his first win of the season on the mound, allowing only four hits over six shutout innings. At the plate Brayden Callihan finished 2 for 4 with a pair of runs batted, and Ryan Thomas also collected two hits and scored two runs. Jack Dennis was the big run producer for Tiffin, finishing with three RBIs. Noah Heard finished with two hits, a run scored, and a run batted in. 

The win moves the Dragons into a tie with the Pride for the final GLIAC Tournament spot. The series will continue tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. with a doubleheader.