Ryan Born

The Tiger baseball team are heating up along with the weather. With seven NCAC West Division games on the docket for the next 13 days, the timing couldn't be better.

Last week was a slow one for the Tigers as they had to cancel a nonconference game against Kenyon, defeated Division I rival University of Dayton 14-10 on Thursday and then watched the rain fall all weekend at NCAC West foe Earlham. When things finally cleared on Monday, the Tigers topped the Quakers 6-4 and 4-1 to sweep a doubleheader and take sole possession of first place. The wins ran the Tigers' modest win streak to four straight heading into a road game at Mt. St. Joseph on Tuesday, another rescheduled game opposite Earlham on Thursday and then a huge three-game series against Denison at home on Saturday and Sunday.

Against Dayton, the Tigers jumped out to a 12-0 lead before the Flyers rallied for eight runs in fifth and sixth innings to put the pressure on. Junior Brian Robinson (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) and sophomore Tom Fox (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana)combined to shut the Flyers down in the final three innings, however, to preserve the win. Junior first baseman Ryan Born (Marion, Ohio/Pleasant) had a huge game, going 5-for-6 with two home runs, four runs scored, five RBI and 15 putouts in the field, a performance that earned him NCAC Player of the Week honors. He was joined in the offensive barrage by senior outfielder Scott Hirsch (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain), who went 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBI, senior catcherNate Williams (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana), who went 3-for-6 with three runs batted in, and freshman infielder Brandon Godzik (Dayton, Ohio/Vandalia Butler), who also collected a trio of base knocks. Hirsch's strong day at the plate moved him up to fourth in the latest NCAC statistics with a .456 batting average.

After a frustrating weekend of heavy rains and aborted attempts to travel to Richmond, Ind. to play neighboring league rival Earlham, the Tigers finally got back on the field on Monday and swept an important doubleheader. In the opener, senior shortstop Bryan Burke (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) went 4-for-4 with three runs scored to power the Tigers to a 6-4 win. Freshman Ryan Goldschmidt (Ft. Loramie, Ohio/Ft. Loramie) and Robinson teamed up to handle the pitching duties. In the nightcap, junior Adam Abraham (Granville, Ohio/Granville) had his best outing of the season, yielding just three hits and one earned run while walking no Earlham batters and striking out four. The Tigers got an offensive boost from senior centerfielder Lance Dill (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork), who had two hits and two RBI.