Etchison's Gem Leads to Grace's Upset of No. 14 IWU

WINONA LAKE, Ind. - The conference season is just getting underway for Grace's baseball team, but the highlight of the season so far was a fantastic pitching performance from Evan Etchison to upset No. 14 Indiana Wesleyan on Friday afternoon.

The senior tossed a complete-game shutout in game two to knock off the Wildcats 2-0. He went the distance to cap off a complete-game shutout to move to 3-0 on the season.

At the end of the game, there were a lot of zeros on the scoreboard. Most importantly, the guest line was all zeros.

The first inning from Etchison set the tone for the game. He forced three weakly hit balls in the infield to retire the side.

In the bottom half of the opening frame, Grace got all of the offense it would need. Patrick Danforth singled to start the inning. Later with two outs, Austin Carr hit a no-doubter to left field, scoring two runs.

A common theme in the game was for Etchison to get the final out of the inning via strikeout. He accomplished this feat in four different innings to thwart any opportunity for the Wildcats to score.

Grace's offense was held in check after a pair of hits in the first inning. Only four batters reached base over the next five innings. 

In the final inning, IWU had two batters reach safely after Etchison fanned the first batter of the inning. After a mound visit, he bared down to induce a 6-4-3 double play to end the game in dramatic fashion. 

Etchison picked up win number 12 of his career to move into a tie for fourth place all-time. He scattered six hits over seven innings, collecting eight strikeouts on the day.

Maximo De Leon swiped another stolen base, moving his season total to five. Carr collected two RBIs with his third homer of the season.