SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg baseball dropped two games to Kenyon in a non-conference doubleheader Sunday at Carleton Davidson Stadium to move to 18-14 overall, but still put together a memorable send-off for the team's seven seniors.

Following head coach Jay Lewis' tradition, each of the Tigers' seniors, including Andy Sharek (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy), Tim Little (Broadview, Ill./Kenwood Academy), Brad Prewitt (Westerville, Ohio/South), Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ill./Evanston), Touby Bender (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison) and Ted Skalla ( Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) were honored with banners in the stadium and personalized Wittenberg bats during a ceremony between games.

The festivities came after a 12-6 loss in the first game and before an 11-5 decision in the second. Kenyon improved to 22-2, and at 8-2 are currently in second place in the East division of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).

Kenyon struck first with a run in the opening frame of game one, but the Tigers put together a five-run burst in the bottom half to build a four-run lead. The Lords answered with four runs of their own in the third inning to tie the score, and over the final four innings outscored Wittenberg 7-1 to take the game.

Rupert was saddled with the loss, but his record still gleams at 6-2 on the season. Sophomore David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) provided four RBIs for the Tigers on a 3-for-3 game at the plate including a three-run triple, while freshman Brandon Reaman (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) was 3-for-4 and juniors Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) and Zach Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier) each drove in a run on one hit.

Game two also went to the fourth inning tied, with a run in each of the first three innings for Kenyon and a one-run first and two-run third for Wittenberg. The Lords broke things open with five runs in the fifth, adding one in the sixth and two in the seventh, while the Tigers scored one run in the fifth and seventh.

Finke took the loss in four innings of work with three strikeouts and no walks. Hampp went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, while Goodwin was 2-for-3 with an RBI and junior Graham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) pushed two runs across on 2-for-4 batting.

The Tigers continue non-league action with a 4 p.m., single-game appointment at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky., on Wednesday, April 18, before finishing off the NCAC West schedule with a weekend series at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22.

John Strawn '07