OSHAWA, Ont. - The Durham College baseball team has their sight set on qualifying for the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship this fall.

With a split in their doubleheader against Seneca, the Lords took a major step forward in accomplishing that goal.

With only two games remaining in their regular season, Durham is 6-12 and sit in the final playoff position in the OCAA standings. Seneca is trailing at 3-9 but have six games in hand on Durham, as they will look to close the gap down the final stretch of the regular season.

OCAA baseball athlete of the week Brodie Harkness (Bowmanville, Ont.) was nearly untouchable in Game 1 of the doubleheader as he pitched the complete game allowing only four hits and one walk. Harkness recorded eight strikeouts in the shutout victory.

The Lords took full advantage of all of their offensive opportunities as they scored six runs on six hits. Dylan Harkness (Bowmanville, Ont.) had three RBIs in the win, including a two-run single in the third inning.

It looked as if Durham would cruise to their second win of the night in game two, as they shot out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning with ace Ilija Bozinovski (Ajax, Ont.) on the mound.

After a lengthy delay following the home plate umpire getting injured, Seneca bats would wake up as they scored three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to take a 9-5 lead.

With midnight approaching in the seventh inning, Durham would cut the lead to just one run, but Daniel Forbes (Perth, Ont.) would strike out looking for the third out of the inning to put the comeback to rest.

Brendon Dadson (Bowmanville, Ont.) was 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored while Jack Rankin (Stratford, Ont.) and Jake Legros (Whitby, Ont.) had two RBIs apiece.

The Lords will wrap up their regular season on the road this Saturday against the Humber Hawks in Toronto. Humber is tied for second place with the Fanshawe Falcons with matching 9-6 records. In their previous meeting at Kinsmen Civic Memorial Stadium, Humber beat Durham 9-7 and 9-3.

Source: Durham College