PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - The Wittenberg Tigers took a big step forward on the final day of their Spring Break trip, defeating perennial powerhouse Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 5-4, in 11 innings. That gave the Tigers a respectable 5-3 record on their annual season-opening journey to sunny Florida.

Both teams started off with a pair of runs in the first inning, with the Tigers cashing in on an error to score two runs in the bottom half on a single by senior Brian Hampp. After falling behind on a run in the second inning, Tigers' starter Steve Less settled down to throw a total of seven strong innings before leaving the game with a 4-3 lead, thanks to single runs in the fifth and sixth on an RBI groundout by Andrew Wellman and a sacrifice fly by Jon Dalton.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh tied the game in the eighth inning, but Wittenberg's Joel Puthoff came on to get the final out and then pitched another three innings of scoreless relief. He was rewarded with the win when the Tigers pushed across the winning run with one out in the 11th inning as Matt Steinke singled and came around to score on an RBI single by Matt Berry.