Pitching Leads Tigers To Sweep At Earlham

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Zach Clark

RICHMOND, Ind. — It's hard to imagine Wittenberg Head Coach Jay Lewis could be much more pleased with the results of a four-game North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division series at Earlham. After scoring 24 runs in a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, the Tigers ran just two pitchers to the mound on Sunday, but they were plenty good in another doubleheader sweep.

The two wins moved the Tigers to 8-4 overall and 4-0 in the NCAC West, heading into a newly scheduled home game against Otterbein at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 23. The Quakers are now 1-10 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

In the opener, it was freshman Zach Clark (Sidney, Ohio/Anna) with a seven-hit gem as the Tigers picked up a 5-0 victory. He went the distance, allowing just 10 baserunners and no extra-base hits.

The Tigers broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Senior A.J. Bush (Troy, Ohio/Troy) singled home the first run, freshmanNick Van Dyne (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) doubled home the second and juniorMichael Yednock (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) rounded out the sixth with a sacrifice fly. In the seventh inning, junior Jason Haunty (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) added a sacrifice fly and freshman Graham Wolff (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) capped the scoring with an RBI single.

The second was another pitcher's duel, with the Tigers again coming out on top. Senior Joel Assenheimer (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) was stellar on the mound, allowing six hits and just one walk in a complete-game 4-1 win.

Offensively, the Tigers did all of their damage in the first two innings. Junior Zach Spring (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) started things off with a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI single by Bush. Wittenberg then pushed two more runs across in the second inning without the benefit of a hit as sophomore Andy Payton (Springfield, Ohio/North) scored on a wild pitch and Yednock added an RBI groundout.