HIRAM, Ohio - With the rain falling in buckets as predicted on their home field in Springfield, the Wittenberg Tigers handled their business on the road instead, clinching a spot in the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament with a pair of victories over Hiram.
The wins moved the Tigers to 11-5 in the NCAC and assured themselves of a top-four finish in the final league standings. Wittenberg, which has an overall record of 19-15, will now have nearly a week to rest before the start of the NCAC Tournament at DePauw on Friday, May 1.
The Tigers were scheduled to conclude the regular season with a home doubleheader against Heidelberg on Sunday, April 26, but those games will not be played due to a schedule conflict created by Saturday's rain. Heidelberg had to move league games against Otterbein to Sunday instead.
Playing as the home team despite making the lengthy trip to Northeast Ohio, Wittenberg pulled out the opener by a narrow 2-1 score. The key once again was stellar pitching from freshman Chelsea Zang (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton), who went the distance, allowing just one unearned run on three hits. She struck out four batters and did not walk anyone, although she did hit four Hiram batters.
The Tiger offense was also held in check, managing just six hits. Three of them came in the decisive sixth inning, however, as sophomore Casey Hobbs (Fairborn, Ohio/Carroll) singled and came around to score on a base hit by junior Kaela Hughes (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) and pinch-runner Lindsey Blair (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) touched home with the winning run on a base hit by sophomore Tori Simek (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut).
The nightcap featured three runs for each teams in the first two innings, a pitcher's duel for the next three innings, and then a decisive seven-run outburst by Wittenberg in the bottom of the sixth.
Hughes banged out three hits, Zang drove in three runs, Hobbs scored twice and drove in two more, and from the top of the order, junior Shannon Lance (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) and sophomore Abby Baker (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) each reached base safely twice.
The 13-hit attack made a winner out of freshman Abby Haab (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome), who yielded just a pair of hits in the game. Hiram scored three times (one earned) as Haab struck out six in the game.
Written By: Ryan Maurer