SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Just one night after barely missing a come-from-behind win against Muskingum, the Wittenberg Tiger baseball squad took care of business while taking the field against Defiance College. The Tigers won a landslide by a 17-4 margin, taking advantage of five Defiance errors while scattering 18 hits throughout the field.
The star of the night's offensive action was freshman third baseman Trent Nutter (Newark, Ohio/Catholic), who racked up three hits in five at-bats, driving in four runs to represent the game-high. Senior shortstop Joel Puthoff (Houston, Ohio/Russia) also had an excellent night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
The game was not a blowout until the seventh inning, when the Tigers improved their 9-4 lead with an eight run frame. In terms of pitching, starting junior Tim Antil (Brookville, Ohio/Northmont) was in control, operating on a pitch count and lasting three innings before relinquishing the mound. He gave up just one unearned run. Among the other five pitchers who threw in the game, sophomore Darin Mumaw (Fort Loramie, Ohio/Fort Loramie) put up the best numbers, going two full innings, striking out three and allowing no Defiance hits in his sixth and seventh innings.
In what is perhaps the game's most eye-popping set of statistics, Defiance committed five errors, while Wittenberg committed four, leading to just four earned runs in the 21-run total. Each of the Yellow Jacket runs was unearned, while the Tigers piled on 13 unearned runs.
In the last regular season weekend series of the 2007-08 campaign, the Tigers travel to Earlham for 1 p.m. doubleheader in conference action, prior to a Sunday doubleheader with Thomas More at 1 p.m.