GRANVILLE, Ohio — Pitching ruled the day in a doubleheader between North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rivals Denison and Wittenberg. The Big Red picked up a 2-0 win in the opener, followed by a 3-1 Tiger victory in the nightcap.
The split left Wittenberg with records of 16-11 overall 6-2 in the NCAC, while Denison is right behind in the standings with marks of 14-15 overall but 6-4 in the conference. The Tigers get right back at it Sunday when they host perennial powerhouse and preseason favorite Wooster in a battle for first place.
In the opener, both teams managed just five hits, but Denison pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against sophomore Jonathan Long (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby). He tossed a complete game, allowing just five baserunners as he didn't walk or hit any Denison batters.
Wittenberg's offense didn't exactly come alive in the second game, but the Tigers did collect eight hits, versus just four for Denison. Wittenberg's runs were driven in on a groundout by freshman David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) in the second inning, a sacrifice fly by sophomore Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) in the sixth and a sacrifice fly by senior Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) in the seventh.
A trio of Tiger hurlers made those runs stand up, starting with senior Jim Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) He was not credited with the win, but he allowed just two hits and five walks in four quality innings. He was followed on the mound by his twin brother, Sam Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), who was credited with the victory after going two innings while allowing a run in the sixth inning on a suicide squeeze bunt. Junior Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) cleaned things up with another tremendous effort, setting down the side in order with two strikeouts to pick up his seventh save.