SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg baseball broke into the win column in North Coast Athletic Conference with an exciting pair of come-from-behind wins over Wabash Saturday, winning 5-4 in walkoff fashion in the first game and 9-5 in the second.
The wins moved Wittenberg to 16-7 overall and 2-4 in the NCAC.
Unable to scratch the board through six innings, the Tigers faced a 4-0 deficit heading into their final at bat in the early game. To that point, Wittenberg had managed only three hits against Little Giant starting pitcher Andrew Swart.
In the seventh, however, Swart ran out of gas and gave up three hits to open the Tigers' turn. Sophomore Brandon Jordan (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) singled, sophomoreTyler Grau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) doubled Jordan in and sophomore David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) singled Grau to third.
Swart was called for a balk to push Grau across and Moore to second, making it a 5-2 affair. Freshman Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) grounded out but managed to advance Moore to third before freshman Brandon Reaman (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) popped out.
With two outs Swart looked positioned to escape the jam, but he added to his own problems with a wild pitch that allowed Moore to score and a walk to juniorGraham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest). Wolff scored all the way from first to tie the game on a single by senior Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), who took second on the throw.
Junior Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) ended the game with a walkoff RBI single into right field, scoring Hampp for the win.
Junior Tiger pitcher Zach Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier) threw a complete game to earn the win. Wabash scored their four runs on just seven hits and two walks, while Finke sat down four Little Giants with strikeouts.
Game Two was not as dramatic a comeback, but the Tigers did still trail early in the game thanks to a two-run first inning for Wabash. Wittenberg held Wabash scoreless from the second through the eighth while scoring single runs in the second and the sixth to tie it up at 2-2.
The bats again showed late life with three runs in the seventh inning to take the lead, sparked by a Wolff RBI single and followed up by a fielder's choice RBI for Goodwin and an RBI single for sophomore Alex Lochard (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney).
In the eighth, the Tigers added four more runs on a Wilson RBI double, a wild pitch, and Goodwin's third and fourth RBIs of the day on a double. Wabash attempted a rally in the ninth, but the three-run inning fell short of making up the gap.
Junior starting pitcher Kevin Tolle (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) picked up the win with 7 2/3 innings of work, allowing nine hits and two runs with four strikeouts and four walks.
John Strawn '07