Ensing boosts Marian
BASEBALL
By MATT KOPSEA
Tribune Staff Writer
MISHAWAKA -- His coach calls him a leader and there was no
mistaking that Friday afternoon.
Marian senior catcher Andrew Ensing had three hits and three
RBIs and also threw out a pair of runners as Marian posted an
11-5 victory over Mishawaka in Northern Indiana Conference
baseball action at Baker Park.
"Andrew is definitely one of our leaders and today he gave a
performance worthy of this title," said Marian coach Tim Prister,
whose team overcame eight errors. "He came up big at the plate
and then helped us regain the momentum with those throws."
Clinging to a 4-3 lead, the Knights (15-5, 11-5) sent 12
batters to the plate in the sixth inning and ended up pushing
across seven runs with the help of five hits, two walks, and two
miscues.
Winning pitcher Josh Grayckowski's two-run single sparked the
outburst which helped Marian earn a share of second-place in the
NIC (behind Penn) with Mishawaka (17-6, 11-5) and Clay (17-7,
11-5).
"We sometimes don't catch and throw the ball as well as we
should, but we definitely have a quality hitting team," said
Marian coach Tim Prister. "Coming in, we knew a win meant we'd
finish tied for second and we were able to get the job done. We
showed a lot of heart in winning today against a rival just as
we did in beating another one on Wednesday (a 10-4 win over St.
Joseph's)."
Already leading 1-0, Marian took advantage of a one-out error
to tack on three runs in the fifth against Mishawaka righty
Randy Schuster (6-2).
Andrew Piekarski delivered the first tally with a run-scoring
double followed by a two-run, two-bagger by Ensing.
Things started to unravel a little bit for the Knights in the
bottom of the frame, though, as Mishawaka benefited from three
throwing errors and three hits to score three times.
With runners at first and second and one out, though, Ensing
threw out Scott Versyp trying to steal third base.
"We had a hit-and-run play on because we thought we might be
able to bleed a ground ball through the hole," said Mishawaka
coach John Huemmer. "Unfortunately, we didn't make contact and
their catcher made a great throw down there to get him easily."
Ensing then threw a strike to shortstop Trevor Nielsen to
retire Mike Spencer at second base to end the threat.
