GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX
SEARCY, Ark. - R.J. Knese and Joe Rohlfing drove in four runs each on the day as the Drury baseball Panthers opened their season Tuesday with a doubleheader split of their two seven-inning games with Harding.
Drury bounced back behind the solid pitching of seniors Harrison Waters and Chris Marston for a 9-4 victory over the Bison in the second game, after falling 11-7 in the opener on a chilly afternoon.
In the nightcap, Knese went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Rohlfing was 2-for-4 with two driven in as the Panthers picked up three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to build a lead Harding couldn't overcome. Rohlfing had a two-run single to key the fourth-inning surge, while Knese and Dane Hughes had RBI singles to follow a Maury Wilmes sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Waters (1-0) started and went four innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs while striking out three and walking just one. Marston followed and pitched two hitless innings, striking out three, before giving way to new closer Kyle Dyer, who pitched the seventh to finish off the Bison (1-5).
"Our pitching was tremendous in the second game," Drury coach Mark Stratton said. "Harry was very solid, Marston was spectacular and Dyer was what we thought he would be, a guy who could shut the door at the end."
In contrast, pitching was a problem in the 11-7 opening loss, as Drury hurlers combined to issue six walks and three hit-batsmen to aid Harding's cause.
The Bison jumped on top 3-0 in the first, before Drury countered with five in the second to take the 5-3 lead. But Harding added three in the bottom of the second and the Panthers would never regain the lead, despite two hits and two RBIs each from Rohlfing and Knese, who along with Dane Hughes, also stole one base apiece. Rohlfing also had a stolen base in the second game.
Senior right-hander Stephen Bloss (0-1) took the loss, giving up eight runs (seven earned) in 2 2/3 innings while walking five and striking out four.
The Panthers are back in action this weekend in Cleveland, Miss., taking on 23rd-ranked Delta State in a noon double-header Saturday and a single nine-inning game at 1 p.m. Sunday.