SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg baseball team stunned nationally second-ranked Heidelberg with a 3-1 upset in midweek action at Carleton Davidson Stadium, converting a group effort from the mound into a signature win to move the Tigers to 9-7 on the season.
Wittenberg approached the non-conference matchup with a staff day in mind, and threw five total pitchers in the game. Senior Jim Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) started with two innings of scoreless baseball and gave way in the third to his brother, senior Sam Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), who allowed one unearned run on two hits and one walk.
Sam picked up the statistical victory as the pitcher of record when the Tigers plated the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the fourth.
The combined effort of the Tiger pitching staff held the Student Princes to one run, 6 and a half runs short of their season average entering the game of 7 and a half runs per game.
Junior Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) started the fourth with a single up the middle, and the Tigers went the small-ball route with a sacrifice bunt by senior Jason Haunty (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington). Heidelberg's starting pitcher Nathan James overthrew first, allowing Hampp to score and Haunty to go all the way to third on the error, thanks to deep foul grounds at Carleton Davidson Stadium.
Senior Mike Yednock (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) then scored Haunty with an RBI single to left center to complete the scoring in the fourth.
Freshman Tyler Grau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) took over pitching duties in the fifth and allowed no hits and walked one batter, inducing a 4-6-3 double-play ball to escape unharmed.
In the top of the sixth, sophomore Kevin Tolle (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) took the mound for the Tigers and held Heidelberg hitless for two innings. The Student Princes are averaging 1.28 hits per inning this season. Tolle earned three strikeouts along the way, against just one walk.
Junior Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) entered in the top of the eighth, and finished the game on two hits and two walks but no runs to earn his second save of the season.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers added the insurance run when Haunty doubled his way on and came around to score on a Yednock single.
Yednock finished the day atop the Wittenberg lineup with a 2-for-3 outing and two RBIs. Haunty was 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Hampp was 1-for-4 with a run, while Wolff, Noe, freshman David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) and sophomore Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) each finished 1-for-3.
Goodwin and Moore each also tallied five defensive assists, punctuated by several impressive throws from Moore at third base.
The Tigers start their 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference action with a pair of conference doubleheaders this weekend, beginning on Saturday, March 26 at home against Allegheny at Noon, followed by a 1 p.m. road engagement with Wabash.
Saturday's matchup will mark the first meeting of the Tigers and the Gators since 2000, when Allegheny took a 3-2 decision in the NCAC Tournament. The last regular season meeting of the teams came with a two-game sweep of the Tigers in 1999, before the NCAC split into East and West Divisions in 2000.
Written by: John Strawn '07