AUBURNDALE, Fla – The Drew University baseball team earned a pair of one-run victories and swept a doubleheader from Gordon College on Thursday during the squad's spring break to Florida, pushing its winning streak to nine games.
 
The Rangers (9-1) won the opener 7-6 in eight innings when sophomore Will Fritch drew a game-ending walk, then posted a wild 11-10 victory in the nightcap in which sophomore Raiden Yost singled home the game-winning run in the top of the seventh.
 
The Rangers have now posted what is believed to be the longest winning streak in one season in team history, as they bested the 2017 squad's eight-gamer.
 
Yost and junior Anthony Diaz each enjoyed big days at the plate for Drew, as both finished 4-for-6. Yost also scored the game-winning run in the opener and posted three RBIs in the nightcap while Diaz scored four runs on the day.
 
In the first game, the Rangers fell behind 3-0 in the first inning but came back to take the lead with four runs in the bottom of the second, which included back-to-back bases loaded walks and a two-run error. Drew pushed across two more runs in the third, highlighted by an RBI-single from Diaz.
 
The Rangers led 6-3 before the Fighting Scots (2-6) rallied with three in top of the fifth to pull even. Drew threatened to win it in the bottom of the seventh, but left the bases loaded.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Yost drew a leadoff walk before stealing second. After Diaz was hit by a pitch, sophomore Ryan Jones worked another walk to load the bases. Fritch was then issued another base on balls to bring home Yost with the game-winning run.
 
Freshman Kyle Johnson (1-0) worked four stellar innings in relief to pick up the win. He blanked the Scots on four hits and no walks while striking out two.
 
Junior Anthony Hernandez and Diaz each finished 2-for-4 in the opener for Drew.
 
In the second game, the Rangers never trailed after Fritch blasted a two-run homer as part of a three-run first inning. But Gordon would tie the game on three occasions, first with three runs in the bottom of the first.
 
Drew's offense stayed in high gear in the second, when Yost and junior Nate Miller each ripped RBI-singles. The Scots rallied again, however, pushing across two in the bottom half to make it 5-5.
 
The Rangers went up 8-5 with a three-run third despite having just one hit in the inning. Junior Luis Fuentes led off with a single before senior William Coleman reached on an error. After sophomore Dallas Lorenzetti bunted the runners over, and they both scored on a wild pitch. Jones completed the inning suicide squeeze bunt for the Rangers.
 
Gordon put one run on the board in the fourth, but Drew responded with two in the fifth to make it 10-6. The Rangers drew five walks in the inning, with Yost and Miller each working a free pass with the bases loaded.
 
The Scots refused to go away, however, and put up a four-spot to tie the game at 10-10 after five innings. But junior TJ Shuman helped avoid further damage when he came on to strike out the last two batters of the inning after an infield single tied the game.
 
With a second-straight extra-inning affair looming, Diaz singled to lead off the seventh, then stole second. He moved to third on a flyout before Yost knocked him when he pulled a single to right.
 
Shuman worked a three-up, three-down ninth to earn his first career win.
 
Yost finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs while Diaz went 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
 
The Rangers conclude their spring break trip on Friday, when they face Fitchburg State College at 9:15 a.m. in a single nine-inning game.