Tipp earns run-rule victory on Senior Night
While the Tippecanoe senior baseball players were honored prior to the first pitch, the Red Devils withstood a miserable weather night to defeat Brookville 12-2 in a six inning run-rule victory as the regular season came to a close.
Tipp built an 8-1 lead after five innings, then scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to complete the walk off victory over the Blue Devils. “It was good to get back on the winning side of things,” Tipp coach Cameron Dickens said. “We played clean defensively for the first in a few games.”
The Red Devils now head into the postseason and will host Ponitz tonight at Clawson Field with the first pitch at 5 p.m. Anderson McKinney earned the win on the mound for the Red Devils, pitching four innings and allowing one earned run. Ethan Davis closed out the game with two hitless innings, allowing one run. Preston Zumwalt, a senior headed to Toledo on a baseball scholarship, led the offense with four hits and three runs batted in.
McKinney walked three batters in the second inning, then retired the next two batters to preserve a scoreless game. In the third, the Blue Devils capitalized to take the lead.
With two outs, Lucas Horn doubled and came around to score when Nathan Waggoner singled to left, giving Brookville a 1-0 lead. The Red Devils went to work in the third inning with a leadoff single from Drew Husic followed by AJ Jergens’ bunt single. Zumwalt struck with a run scoring single to even the game at 1-1. McKinney launched a sacrifice fly to add to the lead, then Brady Liskey walked to bring in a third run of the inning.
Tipp added a fourth run of the inning as Eli Kettel grounded into a fielders choice to bring home Carson Jackson. Zumwalt added another run scoring single in the fifth to push their lead to 5-1, before scoring three runs in the fifth. Husic singled in a run, Jergens brought home a run with a sacrifice, and Zumwalt plated an eighth run with a single to bring home Husic.
After Brookville scored a run in the top of the sixth, the Red Devils put together a rally to end the game in the sixth inning. Four straight walks scored a run to make it 9-2, Xander Wilson added a run scoring single, and Husic was hit by a pitch to force in a run and set up the game winner. With the bases loaded, Jergens walked to force in a run and give Tipp the run-rule.
“It was a great way to celebrate the seniors,” Dickens said. “Those five young men have done a lot for this program, it was a proper way to send them off and start building some momentum going into the tournament.”
