KOKOMO, Ind. — Transylvania University baseball advanced in the HCAC Tournament with an 11-4 victory over Earlham College Thursday evening at Municipal Stadium.
The Pioneers improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Earlham dropped to 27-12 on the season.
Transylvania struck first in the opening inning when Trevor Watkins delivered an RBI single to score Seita Shiratori for a 1-0 lead. The Pioneers added two more runs in the third inning behind an inside-the-park home run from Ethan Dillon and an RBI single from Calvin Schubert to build a 3-0 advantage.
Earlham answered with three runs across the third and fourth innings to tie the game, but Transylvania broke things open with a five-run fifth inning. Schubert drove in a run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Max Finn added an RBI single, Nick Pietromonaco recorded a sacrifice fly and Brenton Alcorn followed with a sacrifice fly of his own before Kaden Ford capped the inning with an RBI triple to make it 8-3.
The Pioneers added two more runs in the sixth inning on RBI doubles from Schubert and Finn before plating another run in the ninth.
Dillon finished 2-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run and two runs scored, while Schubert went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Finn added a 2-for-3 performance with two RBIs and a run scored, and Ford contributed a triple and RBI.
Giancarlo Gonzalez earned the win on the mound, allowing four runs over 6.2 innings with five strikeouts. Luke Patton closed the final 2.1 innings without allowing a run and struck out two batters.
Transylvania will compete for the 2026 HCAC Tournament Championship on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., taking on the winner of the Game 9 match up between #1 Earlham and the winner of #4 Hanover and #3 Rose-Hulman.
Transylvania University is a proud member of the NCAA Division III and the HCAC. To keep up to date with all of the Transylvania Athletics, check out our website at transysports.com and follow @TransySports on Instagram.
