WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Wittenberg baseball team fought against the rain and the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets, but ended up on the wrong end of a 5-0 score. The Tigers fall to even at 3-3 on the season while Baldwin-Wallace improves to 3-4.
The game started and ended with Yellow Jacket pitcher Justin Novak, who pitched a complete-game shutout against the Tigers. He allowed Wittenberg just four hits in the game as the Tiger batters fought against periods of driving rain and a strong wind out of right-center field the entire game.
The Yellow Jackets earned the game-winning run in the first inning, and added padding with two in the second, one in the fourth and one in the seventh.
For the Tigers, four players collected one hit each, including freshman center fielder Nick Van Dyne (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), junior designated hitter Mike Yednock (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), junior third baseman Stefan Kegler (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and senior right fielder Kory Winter (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto).
On the mound, junior Chris Tabler (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua) started for Wittenberg and threw five innings, allowing four runs, three of them earned, in his first appearance and start of the season. He took the loss despite allowing just five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Sophomore Andy Sharek (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) entered in relief in the sixth inning and went 1 1/3 innings. He allowed one run on three hits. Freshman Zach Finke (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) relieved Sharek and pitched one inning with no runs on a hit, a walk and a strikeout. Junior Michael Band (Takoma Park, Md./The Barrie School) and sophomore Ted Skalla (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) each threw one third of an inning to round out the pitching lines.
The Tigers, pending a severe weather forecast for central Florida, will take on Kings College in a doubleheader scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 12, at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Winter Haven, Fla.
Written by: John Strawn '07