Fort Myers, Florida – The Wittenberg University Baseball team combined for 26 hits and 25 total runs on day two of their Spring Break trip in the Sunshine State en route to posting a pair of wins over Skidmore, 12-5, and Plymouth State, 13-0. The wins pushed the Tigers record to 5-2 overall on the year and a perfect 4-0 on the week thus far.
Skidmore Recap
The Tigers fell behind early against Skidmore as the Thoroughbreds picked up a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Wittenberg quickly responded with two in the third and three more in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead after 3.5 innings of play. A pair of two-out doubles from junior Gabe Stacy and senior Patrick Kenny plated the two runs in the third, while freshman Matt Moore opened the scoring in the fourth with an RBI double to left center. Senior Ryan Probst drove in the second run on a sacrifice fly to center, while freshman Chase Whisnerpushed the final run across in the fourth on a sharp single to center.
Skidmore answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 5-4, but Wittenberg pushed the lead back out to two in the sixth with a run-scoring groundout from Kenny.
With the game still in reach in the top of the eighth, Kenny made the score 7-4 on an RBI single to center, while junior Mason Davis all but sealed the game three batters later with a Grand Slam over the left center wall to put the Tigers up 11-4. Both teams scored a run in their half of the ninth inning, which included a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Dylan Jackson to push across Wittenberg's final run of the game.
Six different hitters pounded out two or more hits against Skidmore, led by Jackson finishing the game 3-for-4 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored. Junior right-hander Russell Hayhurst picked up the win on the hill for the Tigers after striking out one and allowing four earned runs on four hits in the first 5.0 innings of the ball game. While Hayhurst picked up the win, sophomore right-hander Logan Wiggenhorn also shined in relief for the Tigers as he struck out seven and allowed just one hit in 3.0 solid innings on the hill.
Plymouth State Recap
Wittenberg scored in five of its six at-bats in the 13-0 run-rule victory over Plymouth State in game two on Monday, which included scoring four runs in the opening frame and adding a five-spot in the bottom of the third.
With Wittenberg already leading the game 8-0, it was once again Mason Davis who delivered the back-breaking blow as he blasted another homer, his third in the last two days, over the left field wall to put the Tigers up 10-0.
Although the offense seemingly stole the show on day two of the trip, freshman right-hander Jacob Boydadded another quality start for the Wittenberg pitching staff to pick up his first collegiate win on the mound. Boyd found his groove early in the contest as he didn't allow his first hit of the game until the top of the fourth inning. He finished the game by striking out six, walking three and allowing just the one base hit in 5.0 innings of work.
Up Next
After storming out to a 4-0 record in Florida, the Tigers will now take a well-deserved day off tomorrow before closing out the trip with three single 9-inning games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The Tigers will take on US-Merchant Marine on Wednesday, before closing out the games against Rockford (IL) on both Thursday and Friday.