IU Columbus Baseball played host to Wright State Lake on Wednesday at CERA Sports Park. Spring baseball in Indiana can be tough when the weather is rough, and temperature was 32 degrees with light snow falling at the start of the first game of the doubleheader. While the snow did stop in the first inning and it warmed up during the day, it was definitely tough conditions for baseball. Big THANK YOU to the fans who came out to support the Crimson Pride.

Game 1
The bats were as cold as the temperature as neither team scored through the first three innings. Wright State Lake put together three straight 2-out hits to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth. The Crimson Pride offense got going in the fifth as Quentcy Perry led off the inning with a single and a steal of second base. Wyatt Sutton walked and Gavin Lash singled to load the bases with no outs. Wes McNeff flied out to center, scoring Perry. That's where the rally stalled, leaving the score 2-1 after five innings.

The Lakers had seized the momentum and put together a single and three doubles in the sixth to stretch their lead to 5-1. After IUC failed to score in the sixth, Wright State Lake added three more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach, with the final score of 8-1.

Game 2
With three River States Conference games coming up on Friday and Saturday, this was certain to be a bullpen game. Brendan Bailey got the start on the mound for IUC, and he couldn't find his rhythm at all. Carter Reitz relieved in the first and limited the damage to one run after coming in with the bases loaded and no outs. 

The offense got going in the second as Aidan Sheetz led off with a walk. Avery Seegers followed with a sharp single to left, moving courtesy runner Cortez Jenkins to second. Grayson Roll doubled to score Jenkins with Seegers stopping at third. Quentcy Perry followed with a double to right field, scoring Seegers and Roll, and Perry moved on to third when the cutoff man couldn't handle the relay. Wyatt Sutton then pulled a grounder to second, allowing Perry to score from third, making the score 4-1 after two innings.

Carter Reitz and Ian McClellan held the lead at 4-1 going into the fifth. Then the Lakers put together a single, four walks and a double in the fifth to tie the score 4-4.

Sutton led off the fifth with a walk, and he stole second to get into scoring position. Lash followed with an RBI double to put the Crimson Pride ahead. Sheetz singled to score Lash, and while the Crimson Pride left the bases loaded, the lead was 6-4 after five innings.

In the bottom of the sixth Sutton hit a 1-out single and proceeded to steal second again. Lash came through with an RBI single to push the lead to 7-4. That was all the scoring as IU Columbus salvaged a split of their doubleheader.

Next on the schedule:
The Crimson Pride host IU Kokomo for three River States Conference games at CERA Sports Park, beginning with a 3:00 9-inning game on Friday, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12:00.