Tigers Offense Explodes to Defeat Wilmington

Wilmington, OH - The Tiger baseball team traveled to Wilmington College for a mid-day game against the Quakers, looking to continue their winning ways after defeating Spalding in Marietta two days earlier. The Tigers did just that, as the offense showed off their pop at the plate in the later innings to take home the 17-3 victory. With the win, the Tigers improve to 9-4 on the season, while the Quakers' loss drops them to .500 on the season at 5-5.

The starting pitcher for the Tigers was freshman Wade Thewes (Parker, CO / Lutheran). He started the game off strong, allowing only two runs on three hits while also striking out three batters and walking none. Owen Treece (Van Wert, OH / Van Wert) entered in the fifth inning and held the Quakers scoreless to get the win for the Tigers, improving his season record to 2-0. Wittenberg had four more pitchers take the mound after Treece, each pitching one inning and combining to allow just one run over the final four innings.

At the plate, the Tigers' bats heated up as the game went on. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning as James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI / Grosse Pointe North) hit a sacrifice fly that scored Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR / Franklin County) from third. In the top of the fourth, Thatcher Dietz (Westerville, OH / Westerville South) scored on a passed ball and MacAuley hit another sacrifice fly to score Rodriguez and take a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Wilmington plated two runs on a wild pitch and an RBI single to make it 3-2.

That was the point that the Tigers really put the pedal to the metal and started scoring almost at will. They put up three more runs in the fifth as Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy) drove in two runs with a single, Rodriguz was plunked with the bases loaded, and MacAuley grounded out with the bases loaded to plate another run. Wittenberg padded the lead in the sixth, scoring twice more on a Chilicki groundout and a Dietz single that scored Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, OH / Tallmadge). Wilmington looked to answer in the bottom of the inning, but could only get one run across the plate on a single into the outfield.

With the lead at 9-3, the Tigers weren't backing down. Thewes, who also batted on the day, drove home two runs on a single in the seventh. In the same inning, Thomas hit a solo homer, Jalen Williams (Catonsville, MD / Western Tech) singled in a run, Rodriguez singled to drive in another, and Zach Meyer (Powell, OH / Olentangy Liberty) hit a double to add another run to make it 15-3. The Tigers finally closed out their scoring in the top of the eighth, adding two more on a sacrifice fly by freshman Alex Koons (Hilliard, OH / Hilliard Bradley) and Williams drove in the last run witha single to end the game witha score of 17-3.

Team Leaders

• Rodriguez and Thewes each led the team in hit, both finishing the game with three on the day.
• Chilicki and MacAuley paced the team in RBIs, combining for six total, at three apiece.
• Thomas and Rodriguez each also scored three runs to take the team lead in that category as well.
• The pair of Thomas and Rodgriguez each logged two extra base hits and the only stolen base for the Tigers came from Thewes.

Team Comparison

• The Tigers had 20 hits to the Quakers' 8, and Wittenberg had seven for extra bases to Wilmington's one.
• Wittenberg was also able to draw four walks and only strike out twice, while Wilmington didn't draw a single walk and compiled six stirkeouts among the team.
• The Tigers were also able to trun three double plays, as the Quakers were unable to turn one.

The Tigers next game comes on Friday, March 21st, as they travel to Adrian to take on the Bulldogs at 5:00 PM before hosting them for a doubleheader at home the next day, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00.

Written by: Grant Martin