SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – An eight-game losing streak was tough for the Wittenberg baseball team, but not tough enough to withstand an 18-run onslaught over 14 innings as the Tigers swept Kenyon in a doubleheader at Carleton Davidson Stadium on Sunday.
A 5-0 win that featured a sterling pitching performance from sophomore Frank Sullivan (Milford, Ohio/Milford) followed a 13-5 victory in the opener, in which Wittenberg slugged 11 base hits and took advantage of four Kenyon errors.
With the exception of two innings, senior Kevin Tolle (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) overpowered the Kenyon lineup in the early game. Aside from the fourth and fifth frames, which came well after the Tigers' 10-run outburst in the second inning, the Lords touched Tolle for just one hit. They converted five hits into five runs in the two scoring innings with help from a hit batter and an error. The win moved Tolle to 3-2 on the season.
The Tigers' 10-run second inning featured senior Graham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) and junior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) both scoring twice and junior Brandon Jordan (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) driving in a run in each of two separate at bats as the team batted around once and half again. Wolff and Moore each had a double and single in the inning, and sophomore Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) joined them with two appearances on base on a walk and an RBI double. All told, the frame included nine hits, two errors, four doubles and a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers put up another three runs in the sixth inning to account for the final score. For the game, Wolff finished 3-4 with three runs scored, two doubles and an RBI, and Moore posted the same line with two additional RBIs. Jordan went 1-3 with a run and two RBIs.
In the late game, it was the Frank Sullivan show. He held Kenyon to three hits in his 6 1/3 innings, and packed two innings between each of them, allowing one in the first, one in the fourth and one in the seventh. He walked three but struck out two in moving to 2-1 on the season. Senior Jonathan Long (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby) took over with one out in the seventh and slammed the door shut with a line out and a pop fly.
For the offense's part, Jordan contributed two hits in three at bats and drove in one run, while Wolff was 1-2 with an RBI. Sophomore Brandon Reaman (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) scored two runs and went 1-2 at the plate, and Moore and junior Tyler Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio/Cincinnati Moeller) each stole a base, for Hutchinson just his second of the year.
Having split the non-conference, home-and-home series with Kenyon following two losses at Kenyon on Saturday, the Tigers move on to a midweek contest at Otterbein on Thursday, April 18. Wittenberg then returns home to host Ohio Wesleyan in an NCAC weekend series beginning at Noon on Saturday, April 20, and 2 p.m. the next day.
John Strawn '07
