Gilbride cruises through 8.1 innings as Triceratops top Henry Ford, 8-5

Gilbride cruises through 8.1 innings as Triceratops top Henry Ford, 8-5

Sophomore hurler tosses 8.1 innings with 10 strikeouts

JACKSON, Mich. (athletics.tri-c.edu) – Starting pitcher Keagan Gilbride (So./Akron, Ohio) tossed a work of art May 14 with 8.1 innings and 10 strikeouts as the Cuyahoga Community College Triceratops (34-17-1, 13-3 OCCAC) topped the Henry Ford College Hawks (30-12, 18-7 MCCAA), 8-5.

The win keeps Tri-C alive in the NJCAA Region XII Championship hunt, with the Triceratops moving on to play in the consolation bracket tomorrow.

Gilbride allowed only nine baserunners on the day, pitching a very efficient 8.1 innings.

On the offensive front, it was a true team effort for the Triceratops. Seven of the nine starters tallied at least one hit in the game, The first three batters in the lineup – Kohan Merritt, Nathan Hill (So./Medina, Ohio/Toledo) and Vinny Gallaher (So./Toledo, Ohio) all knocked in an RBI.

Perhaps the biggest part of the win was the Triceratops' baserunning, with four stolen bases on the day for the team. It was strong baserunning by Nash Driedger (Fr./Windsor, Ontario, Canada), turning multiple errors into the run that put Tri-C on top. Driedger, Merritt, Jamir Ross (R-Fr./Dayton, Ohio) and Alex "A.J." Trobenter (Fr./Euclid, Ohio) all swiped a bag in the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Henry Ford struck first in the top of the second with an RBI single and sacrifice fly to take an early 2-0 lead.
• Gilbride rebounded in the third, striking out the side on 15 pitches.
• Riding the momentum from Gilbride's strikeouts, the Triceratops offense struck while the iron was hot with two runs of their own in the home half of the third. Ross kicked things off with a single and stole second before a bunt by Zeylen Yanmaz led to a throwing error and brought Ross in to score. A hard-hit fielder's choice up the middle by Merritt added the second run, bringing the score to 2-2.
• The Triceratops took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on aggressive baserunning by Driedger, who stole second base, took third on a throwing error and then scored on a passed ball, putting Tri-C up 3-2.
• Three Tri-C hits in the bottom of the fifth turned into two more runs – one run scoring on sacrifice flies by Hill and Gallaher – to run the Triceratops' lead to 5-2.
• Gilbride continued to cruise, sitting down the next six batters he faced in order.
• Tri-C wanted to close their offensive book on a good note and did just that, adding two runs in the bottom of the eighth, courtesy of RBI singles by Brayden Bortnick (Fr./Mentor, Ohio) and Ross.
• Gilbride came out in pursuit of the complete game, but finished his day with a strong 8.1 innings. Mason Wolf (So./Eastlake, Ohio) came on in relief and closed out the 8-5 win.

UP NEXT

The Triceratops will continue their pursuit of the NJCAA Region XII Championship tomorrow, May 15, in the consolation bracket. Tri-C will square off against the six seed, Grand Rapids Community College at 2:30 p.m. from JC Baseball Field in Jackson, Mich.

All games in the NJCAA Region XII Championship Rounds will be broadcast live on the NJCAA Region XII YouTube channel. No tickets are required to attend the event, but parking on-campus at Jackson College is $10.

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You can follow the baseball team on Instagram @tricbaseball.