SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers had an off night Wednesday, and they paid a significant price for it in a 19-8 home defeat at the hands of Thomas More.

The Tigers dropped to 14-13 overall on the 2006 season, heading into Thursday's contest against Muskingum. Thomas More improved to 17-8 on the season. The two teams meet again on Tuesday, April 18, on the Saints' home field.

This one was over early as the Saints jumped on Wittenberg starter Eric Hartfelder for a run in the first inning, two in the second and five in the third to build a commanding 8-0 lead before the Tigers responded with a pair of scores in the bottom half of the third inning.

The Saints scored runs in seven of the nine innings, banging out 22 hits along the way. Seventeen of the 19 runs Thomas More scored were earned.

Wittenberg, on the other hand, finished with nine hits, but the Tigers were unable to take advantage of six Thomas More errors, stranding 11 runners on base. Junior first baseman Andrew Wellman banged out three hits, scored two runs and drove in two more, while freshman outfielder Patrick Williams had a double and a triple and drove in three runs.