DELAWARE, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers saw their chance for a first-ever North Coast Athletic Conference West Division title go by the boards in a long-delayed doubleheader sweep by host Ohio Wesleyan. The Bishops topped Wittenberg 15-3 and 3-1 to clinch the title and home field advantage in the NCAC Tournament semifinals next weekend.
In falling to 18-16 overall and 8-6 in the NCAC West, the Tigers are now in a must-win situation heading into the final games of the conference season Monday at Denison. Wittenberg must sweep the doubleheader to tie the Big Red for second place - that would also give the Tigers the tiebreakers needed to gain the fourth and final position in the NCAC Tournament.
In Sunday's opener, Ohio Wesleyan scored at least two runs in each of the first five innings, with 12 of the tallies coming against Wittenberg starter Joel Assenheimer (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson). It was the long ball that did the most damage, as the Battling Bishops hit four home runs to go along with two doubles in the game.
Offensively, Wittenberg got a two-run homer from freshman Kory Winter (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) and two hits in three plate appearances from junior Joel Puthoff (Houston, Ohio/Russia). However, the Tigers stranded seven runners in seven innings, while OWU also turned a pair of key double plays.
The nightcap was a very different story, as the slugfest of the opener was replaced by a pitcher's duel. Unfortunately for Wittenberg, the result was the same as the first three meetings between the two teams.
The Tigers were held to just three hits and a lone unearned run in the second inning, scored by Puthoff on a fielding error. Sophomore Patrick Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) did manage to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, the second-longest of the season behind the 16 in a row put together by freshmanChris Dorka (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) earlier this season.
On the mound, sophomore Tim Antil (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville) was solid, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out six in a complete-game effort. However, he was more than matched by Ohio Wesleyan's Sean Ring, who allowed just six baserunners in the game.