SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Wittenberg baseball team may be picking up steam at just the right time, combining outstanding pitching with timely hitting to pick up a much-needed doubleheader sweep of visiting DePauw.
The wins moved Wittenberg to 19-13 overall and 7-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) West Division, even with DePauw and Ohio Wesleyan for second place in the five-team standings. The top four teams in the final standings will earn berths in the re-formatted NCAC Tournament, which opens next weekend with "Crossover Weekend" that serves as a quarterfinal round for teams from the East and West Divisions to compete for spots in the annual four-team double-elimination competition May 10-12.
DePauw dropped to 15-19 overall and 7-7 in the division. Denison has clinched the top spot in the West with a record of 10-6, while Wabash is all but eliminated after losing both ends of a doubleheader at Ohio Wesleyan to fall to 5-9. Wittenberg is guaranteed a place among the NCAC West's top four thanks to a 3-1 series win over Wabash earlier in the season.
The opener was all about pitching as Wittenberg senior Kevin Tolle (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) went the distance for a 4-0 victory. He allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out five and improving to 4-3 on the season.
He got all the run support he needed in the first inning as junior Tyler Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio/Cincinnati Moeller) drove in the first run with a single and senior Graham Wolff (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) followed with his fourth home run of the season. In the third inning, junior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) added an insurance run with an RBI single to score Wolff, who had doubled.
Game 2 was a much different affair, as the two teams traded the lead multiple times. Wittenberg scored a pair in the first inning as Wolff and Moore drove in runs with RBI singles, but DePauw struck back for two runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 4-2 lead.
Wittenberg rallied with a run in the fifth and then took the lead with two runs in the seventh before DePauw rallied with a two-out double in the top of the inning to tie the game. In the 10th inning, the teams exchanged runs, with freshman Michael Beedy (Springfield, Ohio/South) coming up with perhaps the hit of the season for Wittenberg, a single through the middle that drove in freshman Brian Raymond (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest), who was serving as a pinch-runner.
In the 11th, the Tigers put together a most unlikely of winning rallies. Hutchinson singled, and he was followed with two outs by junior Alex Lochard (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney), who singled to center field for his fourth hit of the doubleheader. Sophomore Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and then senior Zach Finke (Maineville, Ohio/St. Xavier) fittingly ended the game with a walk. Finke had committed an error with two outs in the ninth inning that allowed DePauw to extend the game.
