Westfield, Ind. - A 10-run ninth inning propelled DePauw to a 15-5 win over Ripon in the season opener for both schools.
The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as
Max Bond led off with a single and moved to third on
Aidan Howard's base hit.
Grady Johnson then reached on a fielder's choice which allowed Bond to score.
Cuinn Morrow's leadoff homer in the fourth gave DePauw a 2-0 lead before Ripon cut the lead in half in the fifth as Nolan Hollander reached on a two-out error and later scored on Trey Page's single.
The Red Hawks took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth as Owen Gerhardt led off with a walk and moved to second on Raidan Shibayama's sacrifice bunt before Alex Pankratz delivered a two-run homer to left center.
DePauw regained the lead in the seventh as
Bryson Dorsey led off with a double and moved to third on
Tyler Walkey's bunt single. Bond then hammered a homer to left center to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead.
Ripon evened the score at 5-5 in the eighth as Pankratz was hit by a pitch with two outs before Jack Anderson and Kyler Hickman drew walks. Crete Slattery reached on an error that allowed Pankratz and Anderson to score.
In the top of the ninth, Johnson and Morrow led off with singles before
Nolan Whitehead singled home Johnson.
Connor Osborne walked to load the bases and
Louis Florida was hit by a pitch scoring Morrow. Whitehead crossed the plate on a wild pitch before Dorsey drove in a pair with a single. Walkey walked and Bond singled home Dorsey and, after Johnson reached on an error, Morrow drove in three with a triple. Morrow scored when
Zach O'Connell reached on an error.
Morrow led the Tigers with four of their 14 hits, while Bond finished with three and Dorsey two. Morrow and Bond each drove in four in the win. Pankratz had three of Ripon's six hits and led with two RBI.
Lucas Stephan collected the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Pearse Riendeau started the game and pitched three innings while striking out four and retiring all nine batters he faced. Antonio DeBartolo took the loss for the Red Hawks.
DePauw returns to action on Saturday with an 11 a.m. game against Aurora at Grand Park.
