Box Score NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – A 22nd birthday couldn't have been celebrated much better.
Manchester University senior starting pitcher Sean Liedtky (Walkerton, Ind.) compiled his first collegiate complete-game shutout, holding visiting Earlham College to six hits, not allowing a walk and striking out five Friday, April 3, leading the Spartans to a 7-0 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory.
Facing just eight batters over the minimum, Liedtky allowed only one runner to reach third base. EC put two runners on in the fourth and fifth, threatening to break through, but a ground out in the fourth and fly out and pop out in the fifth stopped both rally attempts.
The senior right-hander received plenty of offense to back up his stellar pitching. Senior third baseman Jordan Nieman (Michigan City, Ind.) drilled a long two-run home run off the scoreboard in the left field as part of a two-for-four, two-run scored, three-RBI contest, while senior shortstop Trevor Kimm (Anderson, Ind.) tallied three hits and scored twice and senior second baseman Logan Hug (Indianapolis, Ind.) and junior catcher Elliot Ford (Rome City, Ind.) added two hits each.
MU (13-6 overall, 6-3 HCAC) resumes its weekend set with the Quakers (15-4, 5-4) Saturday, April 4. A pair of nine-inning games at Gratz Field begins at 12 p.m.
NOTES: Nieman's big afternoon at the plate moved his hit streak to 22 and on-base string to 23, while sophomore first baseman Tailur Szarenski (Bluffton, Ind.), behind a fourth-inning double, upped his on-base skein to 23. Senior outfielder Kyle Norris (Indianapolis, Ind.) takes an on-base streak of 15 successive outings into Saturday's doubleheader … Liedtky's gem was the first shutout for the Spartans' staff since April of 2014 … The win moved the Black and Gold into second on the league standings, a game and a half behind Bluffton University.
