SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — In the Wittenberg baseball team's second home game in as many days, Mount St. Joseph scored eight runs in the first two innings on the way to a 13-5 defeat of the Tigers. Wittenberg falls to 4-4 on the season after splitting the midweek card 1-1 following a thrilling 5-4 victory over Urbana on Wednesday night.
With North Coast Athletic Conference action slated to begin as the Tigers visit Earlham for two Noon doubleheaders on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, Wittenberg went into Thursday's game hoping to improve to two games above .500 before league play started. The Lions, however, had other plans, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings and adding one in the third, three in the sixth and one more in the eighth.
Wittenberg scored one run in the third and fourth innings and surged with three in the ninth, but the rally fell short.
Offensively, junior first baseman Zach Spring (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty)was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while senior outfielder Kory Winter (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto)was 1-for-2 with a team-best two RBIs. Freshman second baseman Zac Daniels (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) walked with the bases loaded for an RBI.
Wittenberg tallied six hits in the game facing Mount St. Joseph's Ben Hunterman, who threw seven innings and allowed just two runs on four hits. The Lions' Alex Johnson picked up the remaining two frames, allowing three runs, two earned, on two hits.
Against the Lions' strong pitching, junior catcher Jason Haunty (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), junior designated hitter Mike Yednock (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and junior left fielder Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome)each went 1-for-4.
From the mound, Wittenberg totaled five pitchers in the game. Junior starting pitcher Chris Tabler (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua) took the loss on one inning and five runs on five hits. Sophomore Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) threw the next four sides and allowed six runs, five earned, on five hits and two strikeouts. Junior Jim Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) pitched two strong innings, followed by one each from sophomore Ted Skalla (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) and freshman Zack Finke (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier).
Written by: John Strawn '07