Baseball Shows Off the Lumber at Bay

The bats were alive for the ACC Lumberjacks as they split at Bay College, losing game one, 8-7 and rebounding for a 12-7 win in the nightcap.

Kaden Benaske hit three home runs in the doubleheader - one in the first game and two in game two. Evan Fairbanks homered in each of the games and Maxwell McCarty lined a deep shot over the fence in game two.

The Lumberjacks narrowly missed a doubleheader sweep as the Norse won the opener on a walk-off squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh inning. 

ACC led 3-0 after the first inning on a solo homer by Fairbanks and a two-run shot by Benaske. Bay responded, however, and held a 7-4 lead headed into the decisive seventh inning. 

Brendan DiBartolomeo had a clutch two-out, two-run single in the seventh to keep the Jacks' hopes alive, however, the Norse rallied to win the bottom of the inning.

Game two was a different story, however, as ACC dominated from start to finish, jumping out to a 5-0 advantage in the first, again keyed by home runs by Fairbanks and Benaske. Both were with a runner on.

Bay drew no closer than within four runs the rest of the way as the Lumberjacks scored two in the third, two in the fifth and three in the sixth.

Brett Moroschan was perfect at the plate on the day, going 4 for 4 with three doubles and twice being hit by a pitch. He drew in two runs.

Benaske finished with four hits, including the three longballs, scored three times and drove in six runs.

Fairbanks had three hits, four runs scored and had three RBI.

The Jacks used 12 pitchers on the day and six of them (Grant Slater, Charlie Best, Jacob Brohl, Brock Wing, Kaleb Donajkowski and Marcus Castellon) threw shutout innings with Wing throwing two.

ACC returns to action Friday, Sept. 13 at Saginaw Valley State University. While fall games do not count in the standings, they are a big factor in preparing for the regular season in college baseball and softball.