GAMBIER, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers maintained their position atop the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings with a pair of victories over Kenyon in a doubleheader that was postponed twice in a four-day span due to rain.
The wins, by scores of 5-2 and 7-4, kicked off a busy stretch that includes seven games in five days and moved the Tigers to 15-9 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC. Wittenberg, which squares off with Ohio Northern on Thursday before a crucial four-game weekend that includes a pair of games at Denison and a Sunday doubleheader against preseason favorite Wooster, won 16 games in the entire 2010 season. Kenyon dropped to 11-13 overall and 4-6 in the conference.
The story of the doubleheader was the bullpen, which allowed just three runs in eight innings of work. In the opener, the trio of junior Brad Prewitt (Westerville, Ohio/South), senior Sam Clement (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) and junior Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ohio/Evanston) did not allow a hit over the final three innings to make a winner out of senior starter Zach Spring (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty). Clement and Rupert were particularly efficient, setting the Lords down in order in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
Offensively, the biggest spark was provided by senior Tyler James (Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater), who drove in a run in the second inning to tie the game, drove in a run in the fourth to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead and drove in the game's final run in the sixth. Two of his three hits came with two outs.
Five different Tiger pitchers toed the rubber in the nightcap, with sophomore Kevin Tolle (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) picking up the win with a pair of scoreless innings in relief. Rupert closed the game out by setting down the Lords in order again. He was credited with saves in both games, running his NCAC-best total to six on the campaign.
The Wittenberg offense again got contributions from a variety of sources, including freshman David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) with a pair of runs batted in and junior Jason Haunty (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) with three hits and two runs scored. Senior Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) contributed the biggest hit of the game with a two-run double in the decisive sixth inning, which capped a rally from an early 4-1 deficit.