Wyatt Buzbee on the basepaths for Grace in a doubleheader with visiting Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Grace Athletics.)

NORTHWOOD 8, CONCORD 0
NorthWood opened Northern Lakes Conference play with a

convincing 8-0 win over Concord on the road Tuesday.

Alec Holcomb struck out 12 and scattered three hits over six shutout innings on the hill. Cooper Davis closed it out without allowing a baserunner in the seventh.

The Panthers plated runs in the second, third and fifth innings to open up a 3-0 lead, then put up back-to-back crooked numbers with three in the sixth and two in the seventh to bring the score to its final margin.

Matt Dutkowski doubled as part of a 2-for-3 might at the plate, also drawing two walks on his way to three runs scored. Holcomb helped his cause with a pair of RBIs for Wood, which put up eight hits and coaxed 12 walks from a staff of four Minutemen pitchers.

NorthWood moves to 4-2 and 1-0 in NLC play and will play on the road at Northridge Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Concord dips to 1-4 with an 0-1 conference start.

HOMESTEAD 10, WARSAW 3
The Warsaw Tigers struggled to get their offense going in a loss to Homestead Tuesday.

Homestead scored three runs in the third and another four runs in the fourth inning to break the game open, 7-0. The Tigers would get on the board in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of a two-run homer from Matt Shoemaker to cut the lead to 7-2, but that’s as close as they would get. Homestead tacked on another run in the top of the fifth and two more in the sixth to push its lead back out to 10-2. The Tigers managed one run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 10-3, and that would be all of the scoring in the game.

Shoemaker went 2-for-3 with his homer and two RBI to lead the Tigers offensively. Ian Glogovsky and Drew McCleary each had a hit for Warsaw as well.

The Tigers return to action Wednesday at home versus Goshen. Game time is set for 5 p.m.

GRACE 3, IWU 1
IWU 11, GRACE 1
Grace’s baseball team split a doubleheader on Tuesday with Indiana Wesleyan.

The Lancers (13-20, 9-12 Crossroads League) used the long ball to win the opener before falling in the second game.
The opening game saw all four runs scored from home runs. The game was evenly played from a statistical side with each team accounting for six hits and one walk. But Grace won the game with a trio of solo home runs.

Each team homered in the second inning. The Wildcats struck first with a leadoff solo shot to right field, but Houston Haney quickly ended any further threat with three straight strikeouts.

Ethan Brooks responded with a two-out home run in the bottom of the second to tie the score.

Both teams threatened in the fourth with runners in scoring position, but neither side was able to score.

In the fifth inning, Grace went deep again. Brooks led off the inning with his second solo homer of the game to give Grace the lead for good.

Jacob Sapp followed up Brooks’s blast with a solo shot of his own to put the Lancers ahead 3-1.

The Wildcats had baserunners in the sixth and seventh innings, but each time Haney was able to escape the inning unscathed.

Overall, Haney threw a gem from the mound. He allowed just six hits, one run and one walk in a complete game. He struck out nine Wildcat batters in seven innings and needed 94 pitches to win the game.

Brooks was a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs. Sapp was 1-for-2 with a run and RBI, and Xavier Harris, Chris Griffin and David Anderson all tallied hits.

The Wildcats blew open a close game in the nightcap to split the doubleheader. A massive eight-run inning by IWU allowed the Wildcats to win.

The score was 1-1 through four innings. IWU struck first in the top of the second, but Grace countered in the bottom of the fourth.

Grace produced an impressive two-out rally in the fourth to tie the game. Harris and Sid Elford had back-to-back singles, and Mitchell Enyart followed with an RBI single to bring in Harris.

The Wildcats pulled ahead with a solo home run in the fifth, and IWU never trailed again.

The game essentially ended in the top of the sixth. IWU exploded with eight runs, highlighted by a grand slam.

IWU scored again in the seventh, and Grace was unable to respond to end the game early from the run rule.

Harris was a bright spot offensively with a 2-for-3 performance, accounting for half of the Lancers’ hits. Enyart had 1 hit, 1 RBI, 1 walk and 1 stolen base.

The Lancers are scheduled to host a three-game series this weekend with Marian. Friday will be a single game at 4 p.m. with Saturday being a 1 p.m. doubleheader.