SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - At 5 p.m. on Monday, as the Wittenberg Tigers and Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops baseball teams got ready for a rain-postponed doubleheader, no one could have predicted the mayhem that would ensue. At the end of the day, the Tigers dropped both games, the first by an 8-5 margin and the second by a score of 13-11, after explosive hitting and rallies from both sides.
Game One started quietly enough, with three-innings sliding by with just a one-run lead for Ohio Wesleyan, and even that run was unearned. Sophomore starting pitcher Joel Assenheimer (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) added 2 2/3 more innings of solid work, but suffered from three errors in the field behind him, allowing three unearned runs in total. He was charged with just one, and his work ended up filed in the 'no decision' category.
Sophomore Darin Mumaw (Fort Loramie, Ohio/Fort Loramie) came in to relieve and finished the sixth inning. In the bottom of the inning, the game would all of a sudden become a barnburner, as the Tiger bats finally caught up to the Bishop pitching staff. Junior rightfielder Patrick Williams (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) led off with a single, and that started the rally. Before the inning was over, the Tigers owned a 5-4 lead on the strength of four runs on four hits, and without the aid of any Bishop errors. The comeback poised the Tigers for a come-from-behind win, but the excitement was short-lived. In the top of the seventh, Mumaw started out with two quick outs, and the win was an out away. But a fielding error again threw the Tigers into unbalance, and four Ohio Wesleyan runs that crossed were all unearned, coming across after the game should have been over. The Tigers could not respond in the bottom of the seventh, and let the victory slip away. Mumaw ended up with the loss.
Game Two was no less spontaneous. Each team committed three errors, and the offensive columns for both teams were filled with eight doubles, a triple, and 28 hits overall. The Tigers left eight on base, while the Bishops left nine. Ohio Wesleyan got out to an 8-1 lead through the middle of the fourth before the Tigers put any real offense together. The fifth run yielded three runs for Wittenberg, but the Bishops came right back four in the top of the sixth. Determined not to go down without a fight, the Tigers slugged right back with four of their own, and entered the seventh down four runs at a 12-8 deficit. The Bishops scored one more to make it 13-8, and the Tigers were in a dire spot. Through sheer determination, they made up three runs in the bottom of the inning, but fell two runs short when the third out came.
Offensively, the two games featured several different highlight performances. In Game One, senior catcher Matt Steinke (Wapakoneta, Ohio/St. Mary's Memorial)went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI to lead the Tigers, but would leave the second game in the fifth when a pitch came in on his fingers. Unfortunately for Steinke, the home plate umpire ruled that he was in the act of swinging and the pitch was a deadball strike. Freshman Jason Haunty (Westerville, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) filled in with two strikes against him, and struck out swinging, though the strikeout was still charged to Steinke. Also in Game Two, freshman Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome)came in for Williams when was thrown out in the fifth, and went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. Sophomore first baseman A.J. Bush (Troy, Ohio/Troy) went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI in the nightcap.
Sophomore pitcher Kory Winter (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) was pegged with the Game Two loss, giving up six runs, five earned, on six hits and three walks while striking out two.
The Tigers look forward to a road game with Thomas More on Wednesday, slated for a 4 p.m. start time.