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WINTER HAVEN, FLA. -- Loras College rallied from a 6-1 deficit to top Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 7-6 in 15 innings as part of the Fightin' Engineer baseball trip to Florida on Thursday.
The 15-inning game marked the second longest game in Rose-Hulman baseball history, behind only a 17-inning contest against Earlham College in 1995.
Five Fightin' Engineers led the 16-hit offensive effort with multiple hit games.
Sophomore Hank Akard (Indianapolis/Ben Davis) paced the effort with three singles, a double, two runs scored and one RBI.
Sophomore Matthew Turk (Addison, Ill./Addison Trail) added three hits, including a double, and stole two bases. Sophomore Andrew Benitez (Mililani, Hawaii) contributed three singles and two RBIs.
Junior Bobby Newman (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) pitched in with two singles and one RBI. Senior Will Burchett (Mokena, Ill./Providence Catholic) rounded out the multiple hit Engineers with two singles and two runs scored.
Loras forced extra innings in dramatic fashion. With Rose-Hulman holding a 6-5 lead and two outs in the ninth inning, Billy Kass blasted a home run to knot the score at 6-6 and cause the extra frames.
Sophomore Ethan Post (Rockford, Mich.) provided a solid start but had to settle for a no decision. Post allowed three hits and three runs in 5.1 innings of work to give the Engineers their early lead.
Akard led the bullpen performance with five strong innings of work. He allowed just one hit and one earned run with five strikeouts from the ninth through 13th innings.
The Rose-Hulman defense also played a role in the contest by turning four double plays, increasing the team's total to 15 turned in six Florida games.
Rose-Hulman stands 3-3 on its Florida trip, while Loras improved to 1-3. The Fightin' Engineers return to action on Friday with a 3 p.m. matchup against St. John Fisher.