AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Wittenberg baseball team opened the 2014 season with a pair of losses to Dickinson College on Sunday at the RussMatt Invitational.

After scoring a run in the sixth to tie things up at 5-5, the Tigers allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning and had no answer in the top of the seventh to drop the first game by a 7-5 final score.

The tie score was hard earned, however, as the Tigers found themselves down 5-0 after two innings. In the fifth inning, sophomore Brian Raymond (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) singled in freshman Ben Dobrowolski (Milford, Ohio/Milford) to kickstart a four-run rally. Junior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) followed with an RBI single before senior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) brought two around with a double.

In the sixth, the Tigers tied the game with a run courtesy freshman Josh Kaplan (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) on a single.

Sophomore Jordan Hitt (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) took the loss on the mound with eight hits and five earned runs among seven total against six strikeouts over 5-1/3 innings pitched. Sophomore Seth Parrish (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) finished it off with two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and a walk.

Dobrowolski finished the game 2-for-3, while Moore was 1-for-4 with two RBI on the Tigers' only extra-base hit.

In game two, Wittenberg stayed in the contest through three innings with a 2-2 score, but Dickinson posted three runs in the fourth and seven over the sixth and seventh to take the decision.

Moore again posted multiple RBI by driving the Tigers' runs in with a double, finishing the game 1-for-3, as did senior Brandon Jordan (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca), Josh Kaplan and Raymond, while Wilson was 1-for-2.

The Tigers return to the diamond on Monday to face Albion in a nine-inning contest at Noon, following a junior varsity game schedule for 9 a.m.

John Strawn '07