WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Wittenberg baseball team pounded out 19 hits to win a mid-week non-conference match-up with host Otterbein by a score of 17-10.
The slugfest victory gave the Tigers a modest three-game winning streak, heading into a crucial four-game North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division series against Ohio Wesleyan at Carleton Davidson Stadium over the weekend. Wittenberg will open play against the Battling Bishops with records of 15-10 overall and 3-5 in the NCAC West, likely in need of at least three wins in the four games to remain in the hunt for a prime position in the 2013 NCAC Tournament.
After hitting five home runs in the first 24 games this season, the Tigers beat Otterbein with a rare display of power. Wittenberg pounded out three doubles and three home runs as the Tigers scored at least one run in every inning until a scoreless ninth.
Seven different players turned in multi-hit games, sparked by the hot bat of senior Graham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest). He cracked two home runs as part of a 3-for-5 evening, scoring two runs and driving in a career-high five more.
Junior Tyler Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio/Cincinnati Moeller) added three hits in four at-bats, including a home run, to boost his batting average to a robust .413 on the season. He added three runs scored and runs batted in to move his team-leading RBI total to 25, one better than Wolff.
Junior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe), senior Grant Goodwin (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), sophomore Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton), sophomore Brandon Reaman (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) and junior Brandon Jordan (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) also contributed more than one hit to the Wittenberg attack.
Freshman Drew Schaller (Willoughby, Ohio/South) picked up his first collegiate pitching victory after allowing five hits and two runs – neither of which was earned – in two innings of relief work. Senior Jonathan Long (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) was the most effective Tiger hurler as he did not allow a run in two innings of relief, before giving way to sophomore Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm), who earned his first collegiate save with three innings of work to close out the contest.
