The Tiffin University baseball team defeated the Purdue Northwest Pride on Sunday afternoon by the final tally of 5-4. The Dragons leaned heavily on senior reliever Brady Ward, seeing the right-hander earn the win on the mound with 4 2/3rd innings pitched.
The Dragons got the offense going in the bottom of the 2nd, scraping across three runs on four hits and a Pride error. Tiffin got run scoring hits from Ryan Thomas with a single to left, Kyle Vance with a single down the left field line, and from Nich Green with a double to left center field.
Purdue Northwest didn't go quietly, scoring three runs over the course of the 4th and 5th innings to tie the score. Tiffin made sure the tie score was short-lived, plating two runs on four hits in their half of the 5th. Run scoring doubles from Noah Heard and Kyle Vance were the big blows for Tiffin.
The pesky Pride hung around, and in the 8th they managed to plate a run to pull within a run at 5-4. The game could have been tied had it not been for the seed thrown by Brayden Callihan to nail the tying run at the plate for the final run of the inning.
The 9th was another high wire act, as the Pride put the tying run at third base with two outs. Ward induced a foul ball that Kyle Lento flagged down with a dive along the right field fence to end the game and give Tiffin a one game lead for the final GLIAC Tournament spot.
The win is the 4th for Ward this season. At the plate Alec McCurry finished 4 for 5 with a run scored, Jack Dennis was 3 for 4, and Kyle Vance was a perfect 3 for 3 with two runs batted in.
The Dragons now sit 15-24 overall and 9-14 in the GLIAC.