By: Sean Neidig, sports information graduate assistant

WOOSTER, Ohio – Following 24 innings of baseball on Saturday that resulted in two wins, Capital University Baseball played another doubleheader on Sunday, this time taking on the No. 2 College of Wooster Fighting Scots. Unfortunately for the Crusaders, they did not have the same luck they did on Saturday and dropped the pair of Sunday contests.

Game 1 – Capital 4, Wooster 7

The Fighting Scots began the afternoon by scoring the opening run in the bottom of the first inning and went ahead 2-0 in the third.

In the sixth, the Crusaders were able to scratch out three runs to take the lead. Joe Caporale led off the inning with a single and Zackary Ary followed with a bunt single. Alexander Smith then singled himself but Ary was out after being hit by the batted ball. Saturday's hero, Connor Richardson, advanced Caporale to third with a fielder's choice and Daniel Walters loaded the bases with a walk. Shane Lyons then tied the game with a single to the left side of the infield that allowed Caporale and Richardson to score. Drew Ellis then singled to load the bases again and a single from Travis Gilbert scored the go-ahead run.

Wooster tied the game in the bottom of the sixth but the Crusaders took the lead right back in the seventh with another RBI-single from Walters. Again though, the Fighting Scots responded with the tying run in the bottom of the inning and then scored three runs in the eighth to take control.

Ary, Smith, Lyons and Ellis each finished the game with two hits and Lyons drew a walk. As a team, the Crusaders had 14 hits to Wooster's 12. Alex Muckensturm started the game and went 6 2/3 innings while allowing four runs, three earned, and seven hits with one strikeout.

Game 2 – Capital 6, Wooster 11

In the second game of the day, the Fighting Scots showed why they are the second-ranked team in the country by scoring in five separate innings to build an 11-0 lead after the first seven frames. In the eighth though, the Crusaders started to make things interesting.

Caporale led off the inning with a walk and Ary doubled to move Caporale to third. Smith then grounded out but brought Caporale in to score Capital's first run of the game. Ary scored on a fielding error that allowed Richardson to reach first safely. A single by Beau Otto moved Richardson into scoring position and both runners advanced on a groundout by Lyons. Ellis then stepped up to the plate and brought both runners to home with a single that found the leftfield grass and cut the deficit to 11-4. Connor Hopkins singled himself and Ellis scored the fifth run of the inning on a wild pitch.

The rally continued in the top of the ninth for the Crusaders as AJ Albanese singled to lead off the inning and advanced on a balk. Smith added another single to his total for the day and a walk to Richardson loaded the bases with no outs. Otto singled in Albanese with a ball that made it through the right side of the infield but a flyout and double play ended Capital's hopes of coming all the way back.

Ary and Otto each had two hits in the contest and Ellis had two RBIs. Ellis also pitched three innings and allowed only one unearned run with two strikeouts.

Capital will finish its season next Saturday, April 5 with a road doubleheader at Heidelberg University that is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.