Orr, Pugnetti Shine as Dragons clinch GMAC regular season title

Marino Pugnetti hit two grand slams to go 2-0 against Cedarville and claim the GMAC Regular Season Title.
Marino Pugnetti hit two grand slams to go 2-0 against Cedarville and claim the GMAC Regular Season Title.

The Tiffin University Baseball team went 2-0 against Cedarville to clinch the GMAC regular-season title for the first time in school history, winning game one 20-8 and game two 7-3.

The Dragons will have the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with an overall record of 28-17 and 22-6 in the conference. Tiffin will wait for regular season play to end to determine the rest of the tournament seeds.

Game One:
The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs. The Dragons responded quickly as Tim Orr hit a solo home run to right field followed by Cal Brazier hitting his own homer to tie the game at 2-2.

Tiffin scored one run in the third as Tommy Thamann singled to left field to start the inning, then Marino Pugnetti laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Thamann to second. Griffin Stevens reached first on a throwing error that allowed Thamann to score from third to give the Dragons their first lead of the game at 3-2.

The Dragons weren't done yet as they posted an eight-run fourth inning. The rally started with a walk that put Brazier on first, then Nich Green was walked to put runners on first and second. Evan Engle reached on a fielder's choice that threw out Green at second and a throwing error by the second baseman attempting to turn two allowed Brazier to score. Thamann singled up the middle and Zach Campbell was walked to load up the bases. Marino Pugnetti hit a grand slam to clear the bases and give the Dragons an 8-2 lead. Stevens was then hit by a pitch, then Orr doubled to right-center to score another run. Jake Shier was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second for Cal Brazier who doubled to score Shier and Orr to give Tiffin an 11-2 lead. The Yellow Jackets responded with three runs in the fourth to cut the Dragons' lead to 11-5.

In the sixth inning, TU scored one more as Brazier hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Orr from second.

The Dragons put the game away in the eighth inning as they scored eight more runs off seven hits. Stevens began the scoring barrage with a single to right-center, then Orr doubled, putting runners on the corners, and Brazier was walked to load the bases. Green hit the ball back to the pitcher who threw it to first, allowing Stevens to score. Evan Engle singled to center field to score Brazier and Orr from second and third. Thamann walked followed by a Campbell single to score Engle from second and force a pitching change. Marino Pugnetti singled to right center, scoring Thamann from third. Stevens singled up the middle to score Campbell, and Orr hit a two-RBI double to score Stevens and Pugnetti to lead 20-6. The Yellow Jackets scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth in response but Tiffin's lead was too large and went on to take game one 20-8.

Gunnar Boehm tallied the win as he came in in relief and pitched 4.0 innings, allowed one run on three hits, and struck out four.

Tim Orr led the offense going 5-for-6 with a home run, three doubles, registered four RBI, and scored four runs, Marino Pugnetti went 2-for-5 at the plate, including a home run, five RBI, and scored two runs, and Cal Brazier went 2-for-3 with a home run, tallied four RBI, and scored three runs.

Game Two:
The Yellow Jackets grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first and kept that lead until the third inning when TU scored four runs on four hits. Thomas Auth started with a lead-off single, then Isaiah Mirabal and Zach Campbell followed with a single to load the bases for Marino Pugnetti who hit his second grand slam of the day to take a 4-1 lead.

Cedarville scored one in the bottom of the fourth to come within two of the Dragons, but Tiffin responded with one in the fifth as Jake Shier hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Griffin Stevens from third.

Tiffin added another run in the top of the sixth as TJ Truso started off the inning with a single to right field, then Auth was walked. Two batters later Zach Campbell singled to score Truso to give TU a 6-2 lead.

The Dragons scored in the seventh to seal the win as Shier started with a lead-off double, Cal Brazier was walked, then Mirabal hit a double to left field to score Shier. Tiffin would go on to win 7-3 as Cedarville scored in the bottom of the seventh.

Francisco Olivarez recorded the win as he pitched 2.0 innings in relief, allowed one run on two hits, and struck out two.

Marino Pugnetti led the offense as he went 1-for-3 at the plate, hitting one home run, registered four RBI, and scored two runs, Zach Campbell went 2-for-5, scored one run, and had one RBI. Auth went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored one run and teammate Isaiah Mirabal went 2-for-4, with one RBI, and scored a run.