ALLIANCE, Ohio — The Wittenberg baseball team saw its six-game winning streak snapped as host Mount Union rallied to salvage a doubleheader split with the Tigers.
Wittenberg, which is now 11-2 on the season, won the first game by a 12-4 score, but Mount Union scored a whopping seven unearned runs in the nightcap to secure an 8-6 win and split of the twinbill. The Purple Raiders are now 10-5.
The opener was all Wittenberg as the Tigers put five runs on the board in the first inning and led 8-0 before the Purple Raiders finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers wound up with 12 runs on 13 hits while playing flawless defense behind senior Matt Rupert (Evanston, Ill./Evanston), who improved to 4-0 by scattering seven hits and two walks over five innings.
Offensively, it was junior Graham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) who did the most damage, finishing 4-for-4 with three runs scored and a career-high five runs batted in. Freshman Brandon Reaman (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) and senior Tim Little (Broadview, Ill./Kenwood Academy) added two hits and two runs scored apiece.
In the second game, senior starter Touby Bender (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison)probably deserved a better fate after allowing five hits and three walks in 4.2 innings pitched. But Wittenberg committed three costly errors, including one by Bender, to allow seven unearned runs in an 8-6 defeat.
Wolff and senior Matt Hampp (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) finished with two runs scored apiece, while junior Zach Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier) reached base safely all three times he came to the plate.