GRANVILLE, Ohio – Wittenberg baseball split a doubleheader on Sunday to salvage a 1-3 weekend at Denison, dropping the opener 12-2 before picking up a 6-3 victory in the nightcap.
The Tigers moved to 5-14 overall and 2-8 in the West Division of the North Coast Athletic Conference, with the Sunday win coming thanks to a pair of stellar pitching performances.
Senior Stu Haley (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) started the game and pitched 6-2/3 innings of seven-hit ball to with three strikeouts to limit Denison to three runs. He snagged the pitching victory to improve to 2-1. Freshman Tanner Combs (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) earned a save by completing the game with 2-1/3 innings in which he held Denison to just one hit while striking out five and walking three.
Aaron Patrick (Eldorado, Ohio/Tri-County North) chipped in his own support of the effort to lead the offense with two RBIs, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Freshman Erik Olson (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Sophomore Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville) and freshman Timmy Bates (Westerville, Ohio/South) each had two hits in the game with Bates kicking in an RBI.
Junior Will Cousins (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) matched Olson by going 3-for-5 with a run scored and added an RBI for good measure, while junior Corey Farnbauch (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The Tigers got it done with a five-run third inning as Bates singled in senior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton), Patrick had an RBI groundout, Bates scored on an error, Cousins singled to score freshman Eli Goolsby-Broschart (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina Memorial), and Farnbauch did the same to score Cousins.
Wittenberg capped it off with a run in the seventh thanks to Patrick.
In the early game, Denison put together a similar rally with six runs in the second inning to set the course for the game. Cousins and Farnbauch each drove in a run during the Tigers' two-run second inning.
The Tigers head home next for a makeup doubleheader against divisional foe DePauw, starting the first game at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, at Carleton Davidson Stadium.
John Strawn '07