PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - The Wittenberg Tigers won a wild nine-inning game over Mount Union on Day 3 of their Spring Break trip to Port Charlotte, Fla., rallying for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to claim a 14-13 victory over Mount Union.
The win evened the Tigers' record at 2-2 on the young season, while Mount Union dropped to 1-3.
Through the first three innings, this game appeared to be well in hand for the Tigers as they raced out to a 9-2 lead. The big blows were a two-run triple by junior Matt Steinke (Wapakoneta, Ohio/St. Mary's Memorial) in the first inning and a three-run homer by junior Joel Puthoff (Houston, Ohio/Russia) to highlight a six-run third inning.
However, the Purple Raiders chipped away until the seventh inning, when they exploded for seven unearned runs to take an 11-10 lead. A Wittenberg error with two outs opened the floodgates as Mount Union scored seven runs on just four hits. Wittenberg responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning to re-take the lead on a single by Puthoff.
A scoreless eighth inning for each team set the stage for a wild ninth in this four-hour game. Mount Union jumped back in front on a two-out, two-run double - the only hit of the inning. But Wittenberg rallied again, this time getting a sacrifice fly from Puthoff and an RBI groundout from sophomore J.T. Thompson (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont), who drove in junior Jeremey Fruhwirth (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) with the winning run.
That made a winner out of sophomore Josh Fiebiger (Fletcher, Ohio/Miami East), who pitched in relief for a third straight day. The fourth pitcher for Wittenberg in the game, Fiebiger put out the fire in the seventh and wound up allowing two runs in 2.1 innings. Offensively, the Tigers banged out 19 hits, including four apiece from Steinke and sophomore Jon Dalton (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek). Puthoff drove in six runs in the game.