CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Making their first appearance in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament in five years, the Wittenberg Tigers were flying high through the first four-and-one-half innings. That's when their 10-1 lead disappeared, and the Wooster Scots eventually pulled out an improbable 17-13 victory over Wittenberg to start the double-elimination competition.
The loss dropped the Tigers, seeded fourth in the NCAC Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 9-5 record, to 20-17 overall and set them up with an even greater challenge to win the event. Now in a must-win situation, Wittenberg will square off with the loser of Thursday's second game between Wabash and Ohio Wesleyan in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Friday.
Wooster, seeded first with an 11-5 record in the NCAC regular season, overcame three errors and a pitching performance that allowed 19 Tiger hits, including a season-high three home runs, to improve to 20-12. The Scots will face the winner of the Wabash vs. Ohio Wesleyan game, also on Friday.
Wittenberg opened the game with three runs in the first inning, single runs in the second and third, two runs in the fourth on a home run by junior Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) and a three-spot in the fifth, with senior Ray Noe (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) providing the key blow with a two-run shot. However, shortly after the Tigers slapped their final high-five of the top-half of the fifth inning, the Scots struck back for six runs on just four hits in the bottom of the inning to start their rally. Wooster five runs on three hits — with all five tallies coming on a pair of home runs — in the sixth to take a 12-10 lead.
Wooster added a run in the seventh, but the Tigers drew within one run in the eighth on a homer by senior Tyler James (Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater). That's when the Scots put the game out of reach, pushing four more runs across in the bottom of the eighth to make the Tigers' score in the ninth meaningless.
Senior Mike Yednock (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) led the Wittenberg hit parade with four base knocks and two runs scored, while James was one of four players with two hits in the game. Hampp finished 3-of-6 with two runs and two RBIs for a Wittenberg offense that stranded 16 baserunners, but eight Tiger pitchers were touched for 18 Wooster hits. Just as significantly, the Scots worked the Wittenberg staff for eight walks, two wild pitches and three hit batsmen.