Port Charlotte, Florida – After trailing Swarthmore, 13-3, after three innings of play, the Wittenberg University Baseball team fought back to tie the game at 13 in the top of the seventh inning, but the Garnet smacked a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh and added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to escape the day with a 16-15 victory over the Tigers at Centennial Park in Southwest Florida.
Wittenberg did strike first in the game with an RBI double off the bat of sophomore Ian Ash in the top of the first inning, but Swarthmore pushed two across in the bottom of the second and struck for 11 runs in the bottom of the third to take the commanding lead early in the game.
Despite a rough day on the mound for the Tigers' pitching staff, junior left-hander Carson Rengel entered the game in the bottom of the third inning and limited the Garnet hitters for 3.1 innings of work to allow the offense to claw their way back into the game.
The Tigers started their comeback bid in the top of the sixth inning by plating two runs to make the score 13-6. After three-straight singles to open the top of the sixth, Wittenberg pushed the first run across as senior pinch hitter JC Bricker drew a bases loaded walk, while the second run scored on a sacrifice fly into right field off the bat of sophomore Connor O'Malley.
Sophomore catcher Lane Johnson spearheaded the offensive attack for the Tigers in the top of the seventh as he sparked the eight-run inning with a two-run homer to left field that decreased the Garnet lead to 13-8. O'Malley than drove home two more runs on a sharp single to center field, while freshman pinch hitter Josh Bobey made the score 13-12 later on in the frame with a double to right field that plated Austin Morrow and O'Malley. Johnson then completed the process of erasing the 10-run deficit with a run-scoring single through the left side that evened the score at 13 after 6.5 innings of play.
Swarthmore wasted little time responding to Wittenberg's comeback bid as Michael Sepe blasted a two-run homer over the centerfield wall in the bottom of the seventh to push the Garnet lead back out to 15-13.
Wittenberg did add single runs in the top of the eighth and ninth innings, but the Garnet pushed an insurance run across in the bottom of the eighth to escape with the narrow 16-15 win over the Tigers.
Johnson finished the day going 3-for-6 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored, while junior shortstop Chase Whisner went 5-for-6 at the plate with one RBI and four runs scored. O'Malley also added three hits, three RBI and one run scored for the Tigers.
Up Next
Wittenberg will close out the trip with rematches against both Lebanon Valley and Misericordia on March 10th and 11th, respectively. Thursday's game against Lebanon Valley is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m., while the final game of the trip against Misericordia is set to start at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning.