WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Wittenberg baseball capitalized on some momentum picked up from a split with Hope yesterday by beating Rockford 2-1 today at the Chain of Lakes Baseball Complex to wrap up Spring Break.

The Tigers improve to 3-5 with the victory, which came courtesy back-to-back one-run innings in the sixth and seventh innings. Wittenberg did it on six hits while holding Rockford to four.

The Tigers relied upon solid pitching, especially the contribution of sophomore starting pitcher Luke Black (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham). He went seven innings and allowed just one run on four hits and two walks, with one strikeout to pick up the win.

Freshman Jon Ellerbrock (Tipp City, Ohio/Bethel) took over from Black to start the eighth inning, and though he gave up two walks, he also struck out two before senior Jonathan Long (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby) finished off the frame with a strikeout.

Freshman Tyler Powell (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) took over in the ninth, striking out one batter on his way to the save.

Freshman Josh Kaplan (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) registered the Tigers' lone RBI on his 2-for-3 day at the plate with a sixth-inning single to drive in junior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton). That tied the score after Rockford pushed its only run across in the top half of the inning.

The winning run scored when Rockford committed an error in the infield, allowing sophomore Brian Raymond (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) to score in the bottom of the seventh. The relief corps took over to seal the win.

Wilson finished the game 1-for-2 with a walk and freshman Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville) went 1-for-3 and also drew a walk. Sophomore Will Cousins (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) was 1-for-1 after pinch hitting in the eighth, and junior Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) accounted for the remaining Tiger hit, going 1-for-4.

Wittenberg returns to Springfield to open the home slate against Capital at 6 p.m. at Carleton Davidson Stadium on Wednesday, March 19.

John Strawn '07