SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Wittenberg baseball team dropped an 8-3 decision to Ohio Northern on Thursday night in midweek action at Carleton Davidson Stadium.
Ohio Northern popped four runs on the board in the opening frame to take control early. They added three more in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers scratched the board for the first time in the fifth inning when freshman Ben Dobrowolski (Milford, Ohio/Milford) singled his way on and sophomore Brian Raymond (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) later brought him around with an RBI single.
The Tiger pitching staff held Ohio Northern scoreless in the sixth, seventh and eighth before tacking on a run in the eighth. Senior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) walked on four straight pitches and stole both second and third, setting the plate for junior Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm), who brought Moore home on a groundout to short.
Ohio Northern pushed one unearned run across in the ninth to achieve their final total, the only run scored on the last five Tiger pitchers. The run was charged to the final Wittenberg pitcher, freshman Jon Ellerbrock (Tipp City, Ohio/Bethel), but a throwing error put the runner in scoring position and he came around without the aid of a hit to register as unearned.
In the bottom of the ninth, Wittenberg managed to recoup the single run when sophomore Preston Snodgrass (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) reached and went to third on an error. The next batter, freshman Trent Champlin (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln), pegged a single into center field to score Snodgrass.
For the game, Dobrowolski was 3-for-3 at the plate with a run scored. Moore finished with two stolen bases and a run scored. Raymond, Burgher and Champlin each accounted for one Tiger RBI.
Freshman Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville) was tagged for the loss in his three inning start, but sophomore Luke Black (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham), junior Frank Sullivan (Milford, Ohio/Milford), senior Jonathan Long (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby), freshman Tyler Powell (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) and Ellerbrock combined to allow just one run and one hit over the last five innings.
Wittenberg dropped to 3-7 overall with the loss ahead of a four-game North Coast Athletic Conference series with Wabash College, featuring Noon doubleheaders at Carleton Davidson Stadium on Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30.
John Strawn '07