LEESBURG, Fla. — The Wittenberg baseball team opened its 2011 season at the Russ Matt Invitational with two close losses to Bethany Lutheran, falling 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader and dropping the late game 7-6 in extra innings.
The Tigers were held scoreless in the first game but touched the Vikings for three runs in the sixth inning of Game 2 to break a 2-2 tie. Bethany Lutheran responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame and the Tigers answered with one in the seventh to keep the contest going. However, Bethany Lutheran scored in the eighth to finish it off.
Sophomore southpaw Jonathan Long (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby) took the loss in the opener despite five five innings of scoreless pitching. In the sixth, the Vikings grounded out before tagging Long for a walk, back-to-back singles and a two-run double.
Junior Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) paced the Tigers offensively with a 2-for-3 game at the plate, while sophomore Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) and senior Mike Yednock (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) each went 1-for-3.
In the nightcap, Hampp again led the team in the batter's box with two RBIs and a run scored in three at-bats, leading a quartet of Tigers with two hits in the game. Sophomore leadoff man Nick Van Dyne (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) put together a 2-for-4 outing with two runs and a stolen base.
Senior Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) drove home and scored a run with a 2-for-4 game, and senior Ben Gurney (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) went 2-for-3. Junior Andy Payton (Springfield, Ohio/North) provided an RBI on 1-for-3 hitting.
The Tigers went up 2-0 in the second game with a run in the first on an RBI double off the bat of Noe, and a run-scoring single through the middle by Hampp. The Vikings evened the score with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The sixth-inning Tiger rally started with a walk to Hampp and an interference call as the ball got away from the catcher that gave Hampp second base. Goodwin reached and Hampp moved to third on a throwing error by the pitcher on a sacrifice bunt, and then a wild pitch brought Hampp home and put Goodwin on second.
Senior Stefan Kegler (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) walked, before a passed ball and another interference call, this time on the Vikings' dugout, scored Goodwin and moved Kegler to third. Then Payton drove Kegler in with a sacrifice fly to right field to wrap up the sixth-inning scoring.
Bethany Lutheran came back with their four runs in the bottom, but Noe singled in the top of the seventh and went to second after a pick-off throw sailed past the first baseman. He would go on to score the tying run on an RBI double by Hampp to send the game to extra innings.
Lutheran won the game on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth.
Five pitchers toed the rubber for the Tigers in the game, led by sophomore Kevin Tolle (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont), who put together a strong four-inning start. He scattered four hits and struck out four batters while walking just two.
The Tigers are back in action tomorrow, March 6, with a Noon doubleheader against King's College on Field No. 2 at Lake Bonny Park in Winter Haven.
John Strawn '07