SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg baseball team's split with Ohio Wesleyan on Sunday may seem like just another .500 day, but in the larger scheme the Tigers closed out a series victory over the Battling Bishops and, more importantly, set themselves up for a run at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
Wabash is now tied with Wittenberg for second place at 8-6 while Denison leapt to the top of the standings at 9-5 and Ohio Wesleyan fell to fourth place. With Denison still due for two more versus Earlham and Wittenberg still to play two at Wabash, the NCAC rain-out weekend takes center stage in a West Division race that is still completely up in the air. The top two teams in the West Division will advance to the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament.
When the scenarios are borne out, the Tigers need two wins at Wabash to advance to the NCAC Tournament.
On Sunday, the Tigers gave up three runs to Ohio Wesleyan in the first inning of Game 1 and trailed the rest of the way. The Bishops picked up two in the third and one in the fourth, while Wittenberg mounted a three-run rally in the fourth but were held scoreless the rest of the game.
Senior Joel Assenheimer (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) took the loss, but the Tigers saw solid relief outings from sophomore Brad Prewitt (Westerville, Ohio/South), junior Jim Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) and senior Chris Green (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle).
In Game 2, the Tigers found themselves trailing 4-2 in the fifth inning, but juniorZach Spring (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) kicked off a four-run comeback with an RBI double. Freshman Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) pushed Spring across and reached on an error. The next batter walked aboard and junior Jason Haunty (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) ripped a two-RBI triple to right field in a pinch hit appearance to complete the rally and set the Tigers up for the win.
Senior Darrin Mumaw (Fort Loramie, Ohio/Fort Loramie) picked up the win in Game 2 in relief on the strength of 2-1/3 innings of scoreless pitching. He allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out three. Freshman Ethan Sharpin (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge) was solid in one inning of relief, allowing just one hit after taking over for sophomore starter Andy Sharek (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy). Sophomore Ted Skalla (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) earned the save in 1-2/3 innings, allowing only one hit while striking out one.
On the day, Spring went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a team-best four RBIs, while Haunty drove in three on 1-for-3 hitting. Goodwin also notched two RBIs and junior Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
The Tigers play a home non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 20, versus Capital, begining at 5 p.m. at Carleton Davidson Stadium.
Written by: John Strawn '07