SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers couldn't quite put it all together Sunday, splitting another North Coast Athletic Conference West Division doubleheader. The Tigers and visiting Ohio Wesleyan wound up with a 2-2 split of a weekend series after Wittenberg won Game 1 on Sunday by a 6-2 count and the Bishops rallied for a 4-3 victory in Game 2.
Wittenberg is now 11-9 overall and 4-4 in the NCAC West, two games behind OWU, which swept Earlham last weekend and has a 6-2 division mark heading into a key four-game series against Denison next weekend. The Tigers split four games with the Big Red last week.
Sunday was a landmark of sorts, however, as Wittenberg Head Coach Jay Lewis secured the 200th win of his career in the opener. He is now just three wins away from the school record, held by Wittenberg Athletic Hall of Honor member Howard "Red" Maurer, who was 203-126 in 25 seasons (1951-75). Lewis has a 200-161-4 career record as hits the midway point of his 10th season leading the Red & White.
Senior starter Steve Less overcame a rough fielding day for the Tigers, who committed three errors that led directly to two unearned runs for the Bishops. Less, whose earned run average is now a sparkling 1.83 on the season, went all seven innings, scattering four hits and five walks in seven innings.
While Less was mowing OWU down, the Tigers were chipping away in their offensive turns, scoring single runs in the second, third and sixth innings and three more in the fifth. Senior designated hitter Brian Hampp jumpstarted the Tiger offense with a second-inning home run, sophomore catcher Matt Steinke continued his outstanding series by reaching base three times and scoring twice and junior first baseman Andrew Wellman drove in a pair of runs.
In the nightcap, things started well enough for the Tigers as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Wellman had an RBI groundout, Hampp reached on an error to drive in another run and freshman Patrick Williams rounded things out with a run-scoring single. However, Ohio Wesleyan evened things up with a run in the second and two more in the fourth off Wittenberg starter Trey Richardson, who departed after allowing a lead-off walk in the fifth inning. Sophomore reliever Joel Puthoff took his first career pitching loss as he walked a man in the sixth and balked the runner around to third base, setting up Ohio Wesleyan's Brian Stitzlein for the game-winning single.