Bryan Burke

Ryan Goldschmidt

The Tiger baseball team may be catching fire at just the right time, heading into the biggest week of the season winners of seven of their last eight games. Last week, Wittenberg won five straight North Coast Athletic Conference games against Earlham and Denison, sandwiched around a road defeat at Mt. St. Joseph last Tuesday.

After watching the rain fall for a weekend, the Tigers started off their week on a strong note, sweeping a pair of NCAC West Division games at Earlham on Monday, 6-4 and 4-1. In the opener, senior shortstop Bryan Burke (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) went 4-for-4 with three runs scored to power the Tigers to a 6-4 win. Freshman Ryan Goldschmidt (Ft. Loramie, Ohio/Ft. Loramie) and junior Brian Robinson (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) teamed up to handle the pitching duties. In the nightcap, junior Adam Abraham (Granville, Ohio/Granville) had his best outing of the season, yielding just three hits and one earned run while walking no Earlham batters and striking out four. The Tigers got an offensive boost from senior centerfielder Lance Dill (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork), who had two hits and two RBI.

Following a 5-2 defeat at Mt. St. Joseph, the Tigers rallied for another win over Earlham on Thursday, this time by a 12-2 count. Dill, who had four hits and three runs scored, and junior first baseman Ryan Born (Marion, Ohio/Pleasant), who had two hits, three runs and five RBI, were the offensive catalysts. Sophomore Kurt Hartfelder (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and freshman Wayne Massie (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) teamed up to shut the Quakers down on the mound.

Saturday brought warm, pleasant weather and an important doubleheader sweep against visiting Denison, 6-4, and 8-1. In the opener, senior second baseman Karl Friedhoff (Sunman, Ind./Central) and senior Scott Hirsch (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) both had timely two-out RBI hits to spark the offense and freshmanRyan Goldschmidt (Ft. Loramie, Ohio/Ft. Loramie) tossed a complete-game to get the pitching victory. In the nightcap, senior Brad Cerovac (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) turned in one of his best performances, going the distance on the mound. Offensively, the Tigers spread things around, getting base hits from eight of the nine hitters in the batting order and RBIs from five different players.

This week, the Tigers are exclusively in NCAC West action thanks to earlier rainouts. Currently situated atop the standings, percentage points ahead of 8-1 Ohio Wesleyan, the Tigers host Denison Tuesday, travel to Wabash for a doubleheader on Thursday and then host the nationally ranked defending conference champion Bishops for three games over the weekend.

One Tiger win clinches a spot in the NCAC tournament, which includes the top two teams in each division. The tourney is slated for May 4-5 at the sites of the two division champions. The championship series will take place the following weekend. Wittenberg has never won the NCAC tournament.