AUBURNDALE, Fla. - Tiffin baseball came up just short in a back-and-forth battle with Winona State on Thursday afternoon, falling 9-8 to the Warriors.
Cody Orr, Jack Dennis, and John Heckman each had three hits for the Dragons, with Orr scoring three runs as well. Colin BeDell also had a multi-hit game with two base knocks, and seven different Dragons recorded an RBI in the contest.
Tiffin jumped on Warrior starter Austin Savary right away, as Orr was hit by a pitch to lead off and then scored all the way from first on a double off the bat of Dennis. Later in the inning, Dennis came home to score on a Noah Penney sacrifice fly that put TU up 2-0.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Winona State tallied four runs in the bottom of the inning. The Dragons got one back on an Orr sacrifice fly in the top of the second, but a Warrior homer in the bottom of the inning extended their lead back up to two, 5-3.
TU battled back to tie it in the top of the third, though, as Kyle Vance and BeDell each recorded RBI singles. The early scoring kept coming, as the Dragons tacked on two more in the top of the fourth to take a 7-5 lead.
The score was tied again after Winona State scored on back-to-back bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the fifth. Tiffin was able to briefly gain the advantage again with a run in the top of the sixth, but two more scores for the Warriors in the bottom of the inning made it 9-8 in favor of Winona State.
No runs were scored in the seventh or eighth innings, and Tiffin had a chance to tie or take the lead in the top of the ninth with two on and one out. A strikeout and groundout ended the threat, though, as the Warriors held on for the one-run victory.
The Dragons will complete their Spring Break trip with a three-game series at Saint Leo University over the next three days.