FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The Wittenberg baseball team split a doubleheader against Methodist and No. 15 Christopher Newport on Saturday. The Tigers defeated Methodist 13-5 before falling 4-0 to Christopher Newport.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (3-2 overall), Methodist (4-4 overall), Christopher Newport (8-2 overall)
• Venue: Armstrong-Shelley Field - Fayetteville, N.C.

Stat Leaders - vs. Methodist

• Sophomore James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) led the Wittenberg offense with three hits, including a double, to go with two RBIs and two runs scored.
• Freshman Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, P.R./Franklin County) also had a big game at the plate, tallying two hits, including a home run, along with three RBIs, one walk and three runs scored.
• Junior Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) added two hits, three RBIs and one run.
• Senior Parker Gryskevich (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) tallied two hits, two RBIs and one run, and senior Matt Moore (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) added two hits, one RBI and one run.
• Sophomore Mikey Eickhoff (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) earned the win on the mound for the Tigers to improve to 2-0 on the season. He allowed just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out one in 3.2 innings in relief of junior starter Nate Floyd (Akron, Ohio/Copley).
• Junior Charlie Schafer (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) earned his first save of the season, closing out the game by pitching four scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and striking out four.
• Jackson Deal led the Methodist offense with three hits.

Game 1 - Wittenberg 13, Methodist 5

• Wittenberg wasted little time getting on the scoreboard after loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first inning via back-to-back singles from senior Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) and MacAuley and a walk to senior Conor O'Malley (Avon, Ohio/St. Edward's). With one out, junior Ben Seibert (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) drove in a run when he was hit by a pitch, and Rodriguez and Royer followed with an RBI sac fly and RBI single, respectively, for a 3-0 lead.
• The Monarchs plated a run in the bottom of the first and added three more in the second for a 4-3 lead.
• The Tigers retook the lead in the top of the third via a 2-RBI single from Royer and added to it with a 2-RBI single from MacAuley for a 7-4 edge.
• A 2-RBI single from Gryskevich put the Tigers up 9-4 in the fourth inning.
• Methodist plated a run in the top of the fifth but was held off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
• The Tigers capped the scoring with a four-run eighth inning capped by a two-run homer from Rodriguez.
• Wittenberg out-hit Methodist by a 14-11 margin and had just one error to the Monarch's two.

Stat Leaders - vs. Christopher Newport

• O'Malley, Royer and sophomores Alex Nemunaitis (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) and Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) had one hit each for the Tigers. O'Malley's hit was a double.
• Senior Nick Cunningham (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) got the start on the mound for Wittenberg. He allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out five over seven innings.
• Senior Joe Horoszko (Seven Hills, Ohio/Saint Edwards) pitched one inning in relief, allowing one hit and striking out one.
• Zach Dzarnowski and Ayden Stuffel led the Captains' offense with two hits each.
• Brandon Cassedy got the pitching start for CNU and improved to 3-0 on the year after throwing eight scoreless innings and allowing three hits and one walk while striking out 16.

Game 2 - Christopher Newport 4, Wittenberg 0

• The game was scoreless through four innings.
• The Captains plated a run in the bottom of the fifth inning and held that 1-0 lead through seven frames.
• O'Malley's double came with two outs in the top of the sixth, but Cassedy struck out Moore to end the threat.
• CNU added to its lead with a three-run eighth, scoring on a wild pitch, RBI sac fly and RBI single.
• Chilicki hit a leadoff single in the top of the ninth and advanced to second base on a one-out wild pitch. He advanced to third on a groundout from Moore, and Seibert walked to put two men on base. But Royer struck out to end the game.
• The Captains out-hit the Tigers by an 8-4 margin, and Wittenberg committed two errors to CNU's none.

Quote - Head coach Brian McGee

• "I'm always proud of the guys because they always give each other all they've got. It's never a shortage of effort or competitiveness. These guys play the game the right way. In Game 1, we got the results we wanted, but we fell short in Game 2 going toe to toe with a great program. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the outing by Nick Cunningham, which was excellent."

Records & Milestones

• Eighth-year head coach Brian McGee is now 136-101 all-time at Wittenberg.
• O'Malley has 114 hits, 28 doubles, 11 home runs and 97 RBIs in his career. He is 52 hits, eight doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Thomas has 111 hits and 27 doubles in his career. He is 55 hits and nine doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• On the mound, Cunningham has 87 career strikeouts, Schafer has 66 and Floyd has 63 in their pursuit of 100.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Sunday to face Immaculata at 10:30 a.m. to close out their three-game set in the Armstrong Invitational.