Durham College Athletics

OSHAWA, ON - Wrapping up the regular season, the Durham College men's baseball team shutout the Humber Hawks in a doubleheader to secure a final four spot and break the OCAA record for total hits in a single season by a team.

With a lot to play for, the Lords and Hawks were careful to let either side open the scoring through the first handful of innings. Durham broke the ice first and really piled on in the bottom of the third inning. 

With runners on first and second, Jacob Mahoney (Toronto, ON) hit a single to give Zach Rivers (Oshawa, ON) the first run of the game.

Not long later, the Lords found themselves up 3-0 with Nolan Hartley (Oshawa, ON) to the plate and the bases loaded. Hartley hit a double that totally cleared the bases with Mahoney, Cruz Lopez (Brooklin, ON) and Griffin McMillan (Bowmanville, ON) all scoring to double the hosts lead to six.

After a pitching change, Rivers hit a single in his second appearance at the plate in the inning to send Hartley home. The Lords would score three more runs in the inning to take a commanding 100 lead.

Jackson Painter (Whitby, ON) continued to command the strike zone, facing only four batters in the inning before getting a third out.

McMillan added one more run in the fourth to put the Lords up by 11 and the game ended early as the Hawks couldn't bring it back down to single digits in the fifth.

Painter went all 5.0 innings, throwing 82 pitches against a total of 21 batters. He conceded only three hits and zero runs, while striking out two and walking two.

Rivers went 1-for-2 at the plate with two runs, one RBI and two stolen bases. McMillan was a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of runs.

Ryan Mattes (Whitby, ON) picked up where his team left off in the second game, scoring a run early after stealing second and third to put himself into scoring position.

Two batters after being walked, Lopez scored his first run of the game in the bottom of the second after Mason Wright (Courtice, ON) reached first on an error.

In the bottom of the third with two men on base, Lopez hit a home run to make it a 5-0 game as he crossed home with Mahoney and Cole Cote (Welland, ON).

"I knew I was getting a fastball and I was just gonna turn on it and put it as far out as I can and when I put it out was such a rush of emotion," said Lopez. "My last three years here we never beat these guys so I just wanted that to be special."

Durham added one more in the bottom of the fifth. Tristan Deslauriers (Oshawa, ON) slowly made his way around the bases one batter at a time until a single hit by Hartley put him across home.

In the sixth inning, Mahoney and Deslauriers both scored their second runs of the night to make it 8-0 before Wright scored on an RBI single to put the Lords up by nine, eventually winning it 9-0.

King went 6.0 innings, striking out 13 batters an allowing only one hit which came in the fourth inning. That makes the third time this season that King has retired double-digit batters and his third time not allowing a run in a start.

Cote hit the mound for the final inning, facing four batters and striking out three. At the plate, he recorded one run and one RBI in the game.

Lopez was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of runs and a trio of RBI's.

Finishing the regular season with a 15-3 record, the Lords complete their best regular season campaign since beginning to compete in OCAA baseball in 2013. The previous highest win total was 13 in 2017.

Since establishing a men's baseball program in 1992, the Lords registered their second most regular season wins. Only being the 2010 team that went 16-0 in CIBA regular season play.

The Lords finish the regular season with 220 combined hits, breaking the OCAA record for most hits in a season. The record was previously set by Humber, who had 193 hits in 2018. This comes after Durham's 2022 squad came so close to the record with 180 hits. 

Cote and Rivers led the way on this, recording 34 and 32 hits, respectively, both surpassing the previous OCAA record 30 hits.

Lastly, Tuesday evening marks the first time since the semifinal of the 2019 National College Baseball Championship that the Lords have beaten the Hawks in competitive play.

Durham now await the results of the final three games to be played by the St. Clair Saints to determine playoff seeding. One thing is for sure - the Lords have secured a top two spot in the standings and will automatically advance to the final four at the 2023 OCAA Men's Baseball Championship.

The Championship will take place from October 19-21 at Stewart Burnett Park in Aurora, hosted by the Seneca Sting.

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