GAMBIER — The Wittenberg baseball team swept a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader at Kenyon on Saturday to clinch a share of the NCAC regular-season title and No. 1 seed for the NCAC Tournament based on a tiebreaker. The Tigers opened with a 6-4 win in Game 1 and closed out the sweep with a 3-0 victory in Game 2 to tie Denison atop the NCAC standings with a 13-3 conference mark and earn co-champion status. This marks the first NCAC regular-season championship in program history for Wittenberg and the first conference title since winning the Ohio Athletic Conference in 1968.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (24-15 overall, 13-3 NCAC), Kenyon (21-15 overall, 8-8 NCAC)
• Venue: McCloskey Field - Gambier, Ohio

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Senior Conor O'Malley (Avon, Ohio/St. Edward's) led the Wittenberg offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.
• Junior Ben Seibert (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) was 3-for-5 with a double and stolen base.
• Sophomore James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) tallied two hits, including a double, and one run.
• Sophomore Alex Nemunaitis (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) finished with two hits and two runs, and senior Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) tallied two hits and one run. Thomas also recorded a steal.
• Senior Matt Moore (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) had one hit and two RBIs.
• Freshman Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, P.R./Franklin County) posted a double and one RBI.
• Senior Nick Cunningham (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) earned the win on the mound for the Tigers to improve to 4-2 on the season. He allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out seven over five innings.
• Junior Charlie Schafer (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) and senior Joe Horoszko (Seven Hills, Ohio/Saint Edwards) pitched the final four innings. Horoszko allowed just one hit while tallying two strikeouts over the final two innings en route to earning his third save of the season.

Game 1 - Wittenberg 6, Kenyon 4

• Wittenberg plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI single from Moore and RI double from Rodriguez.
• Kenyon answered quickly, taking a 3-2 in the bottom of the first inning.
• The Tigers retook the lead in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from O'Malley, RBI sac fly from Moore and a wild pitch that brought O'Malley home to put Wittenberg up 5-3.
• The Owls cut the deficit to one on an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
• O'Malley increased the Tigers' lead to two, 6-4, with an RBI double in the top of the eighth, and Horoszko proceeded to shut down the Kenyon offense to secure the win for Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg out-hit Kenyon by a 14-7 margin and committed two errors to the Owls' one.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Senior Austin Luther (Hughesville, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) earned the win on the mound for the Tigers to improve to 4-2 on the season. He pitched 8.2 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out nine.
• Horoszko earned his second save of the day and fourth of the season after recording the final out of the game via strikeout.
• Thomas led the Wittenberg offense, going 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run.
• MacAuley was 3-for-4 with one run.
• Nemunaitis and Moore tallied one hit each.

Game 2 - Wittenberg 3, Kenyon 0

• Wittenberg opened the scoring with an RBI sac fly from Thomas in the top of the third inning.
• The Tigers increased their lead to 2-0 when MacAuley scored on a passed ball in the top of the fifth.
• Thomas scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth.
• The Owls loaded the bases on a pair of hit batters and a single in the bottom of the ninth, but Horoszko came into the game and struck out pinch hitter Tyler Nee to seal the win for Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg out-hit Kenyon by an 8-6 margin and committed one error to the Owls' none.

Quote - Head coach Brian McGee

• "I'm so happy for the entire baseball family — players, coaches, staff, the university, our alumni, parents and family. You all had a hand in this. This is for all of us! Tiger Up!"

Records & Milestones

• Eighth-year head coach Brian McGee is now 157-114 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg is making its third straight appearance in the NCAC Tournament.
• The Tigers have hit a program-record 37 home runs this season, breaking the prior single-season record of 35 from 1997.
• Moore has 160 hits, 24 doubles and 126 RBIs in his career. He ranks third all-time in RBIs and is six hits and 12 doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• O'Malley has 161 hits, 36 doubles, 17 home runs, 120 RBIs, 123 runs scored in his career. He is tied for fourth all-time at Wittenberg in home runs, and is tied for fourth in RBIs, tied for ninth all-time in doubles and tied for 10th in runs and is five hits shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in that category.
• Thomas has 144 hits and 34 doubles in his career. He is 22 hits and two doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Cunningham has a 16-9 career record with 127 strikeouts. He is tied for eighth all-time at Wittenberg in pitching wins.
• Luther has a 14-6 career record with 149 strikeouts. He is two strikeouts shy of joining Wittenberg's all-time top 10 in that category.
• Horoszko has five career saves, which is tied for fourth all-time at Wittenberg.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Thursday, opening the NCAC Tournament against fourth-seeded Kenyon at V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe. For more information about the tournament, click here.

Above: The Wittenberg baseball team celebrates winning the first NCAC regular-season championship in program history.