GREENCASTLE, Ind. — After a tremendous start to the 2012 season, the Wittenberg Tigers were unable to sustain the momentum in a pair of North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division losses at DePauw.
The host Tigers were playing their first baseball games as a member of the NCAC after officially joining the conference prior to the 2011-12 school year. DePauw, ranked 26th in the latest national poll, picked up an 8-6 win in the opener and closed the doubleheader sweep with a 4-1 win in the nightcap.
The losses dropped Wittenberg to 13-5 overall and 0-2 in the NCAC West, while DePauw improved to 14-3 overall and 2-0 in the NCAC West. The two teams will get right back after it on Sunday with another doubleheader, scheduled for a noon first pitch.
In the opener, DePauw jumped on top with three runs in the first inning, but Wittenberg rallied to tie the game with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth. The host Tigers broke the game open with five runs in the fifth inning, capped by a grand slam.
Once again, the visiting Tigers put together a rally, scoring one run in the sixth on an RBI single by freshman Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) and two unearned runs in the seventh.
Wilson, junior Graham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest), senior Tim Little (Broadview, Ill./Kenwood Academy) and sophomore Brandon Jordan (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) each collected two hits in the game as the visiting Tigers outhit the host team 12-6. Junior Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) scored a pair.
The second game was a nine-inning affair that turned into a pitcher's duel. DePauw played errorless defense, as compared to Wittenberg's four errors that led to three unearned runs against junior Zack Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier), the hard-luck loser on the pitcher's mound. Wilson recorded the visiting Tigers' lone RBI with an infield single in the third inning, but otherwise the Wittenberg offense was shut down.