SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — With their backs against the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division wall, the Wittenberg baseball team settled for a doubleheader split against Denison.
After winning the opener 4-3, the Tigers allowed a 4-1 lead to slip away in a 6-4 loss in the nightcap. Wittenberg is now 18-11 overall, but more importantly just 4-8 in the NCAC West. Denison won the series 3-1 to improved to 3-5 in league play, 7-19-1 overall.
In the opener, Wittenberg jumped on top 2-0 in the first inning, but Denison tied it with runs in the third and sixth. The Tigers jumped back on top in the bottom of the sixth, but the Big Red again equalized to send the game into the bottom of the seventh. That's when senior Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) drove in the game-winning run with a clutch two-out single that drove home freshman Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton).
The late rally made a winner out of senior Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ill./Evanston), who improved to 6-1 after allowing eight hits and one walk. Rupert tossed his fourth complete-game after giving up three runs (two earned).
Offensively, Wilson finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Hampp collected three hits in four plate appearances.
The day had the look of a sweep after the Tigers jumped on top with a run in the first inning and three more in the second of Game 2 to take a 4-1 lead. However, the Big Red pitching staff shut the Tigers down on just four singles over the last seven innings while plating a pair of runs in the fifth and a game-winning three-run rally in the sixth.
Denison outhit Wittenberg 14-7 in the nightcap. No Tiger finished with more than one hit in the game. Junior Zach Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier) drove in a pair, while freshman Aaron Patrick (Eldorado, Ohio/Tri-County North) drove one in and scored a run.
Wittenberg steps out of West Division play for the next two weeks, starting with a nine-inning affair at Muskingum on April 12. The Tigers will wrap up NCAC West action with four games at Ohio Wesleyan April 21-22.