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Steve Less

The Wittenberg baseball team has a big week ahead, and possibly the momentum necessary to make it an extremely positive one as well. That is, unless Mother Nature continues to play tricks on the team.

For starters, the city of Springfield will celebrate the grand opening of Carleton-Davidson Stadium at 6 p.m. Friday, April 23. The new state-of-the-art facility is completed and ready for its unveiling Friday, and the Tigers will play the first games in the rebuilt municipally owned stadium on Saturday and Sunday against North Coast Athletic Conference West Division rival and defending conference champion Ohio Wesleyan.

The Tigers lost three of four home games last weekend to nationally ranked Denison. While it may not sound like the Tigers should have any momentum from a series like that, it ended with a dramatic 5-4 victory on Sunday that lifted Wittenberg into a second-place tie with Ohio Wesleyan at 8-4 in the West Division. Denison clinched first place in the division and will host a first-round NCAC Tournament series on May 1-2. The winner of this weekend's series between OWU and Wittenberg will earn the other West Division berth in the tournament and a trip to either Wooster or Allegheny, teams that will play for the East Division championship this weekend, for a semifinal series May 1-2.

The team has now lost six games due to the unpredictable spring weather in Ohio, including games this week against Cedarville and Thomas More. Weather permitting, the Tigers now face a stretch of at least 10 games in the next seven days, possibly more pending decisions on previously postponed games.

Now with an 18-10 overall record and a mark of 8-4 in the NCAC West, the Tigers were carried for much of the season by a young but rapidly improving pitching staff. Before giving up five or more runs in the last five games, the staff had a 2.59 earned run average that was threatening one of the most impressive records in the school's annals, a mark of 2.54 record in 1973.

The starting rotation has settled in nicely, led by senior Tom Fox (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana), who has two one-hit victories this season. He has a 4-1 record with a 3.16 ERA in eight appearances, including four starts. Sophomores Steve Less (Sheffield, Ohio/Elyria Catholic) and Justin McCulla (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) have also been solid, both posting ERAs under 4.00. Less leads the team with five wins and 33 strikeouts.

Offensively, junior Jon Komperda (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) has been amazingly consistent. He leads the team with a batting average of .417 after collecting four hits in the win over Denison on Sunday, including a two-run single in the decisive seventh inning. His 40 hits and 11 stolen bases both lead the team by a wide margin and his 23 runs batted in from the leadoff position put him second on the team. Five other players with at least 21 appearances in the first 28 games are hitting .300 or better, including junior Matt Foster (Granville, Ohio/Granville), who tops the squad with 27 runs, 26 RBI and three home runs.