HIRAM — The Wittenberg baseball team opened North Coast Athletic Conference play on Friday scoring a combined 33 runs in a doubleheader sweep at Hiram. The Tigers won the opener 18-15 and completed the sweep with a 15-8 victory in a 10-inning second game.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (9-11 overall, 2-0 NCAC), Hiram (9-9 overall, 0-2 NCAC)
• Venue: Fishel Field at Proverbs Park - Hiram, Ohio

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Five Tigers finished with three hits each in the game.
• Sophomore Alex Nemunaitis (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) was 3-for-5 with a home run and a double to go with two RBIs and two runs scored.
• Freshman Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, P.R./Franklin County) was 3-for-6 with triple and a double to go with three RBIs and three runs scored.
• Freshman Cam Gladden (Galena, Ohio/Big Walnut) was 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.
• Junior Ben Seibert (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) was 3-for-6 with one RBI and one run.
• Junior Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) was 3-for-6 with a double and three runs.
• Senior Parker Gryskevich (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) tallied two hits, including a home run, to go with five RBIs and one run.
• Senior Conor O'Malley (Avon, Ohio/St. Edward's) was 2-for-5 with a home run and a double to go with three RBIs and two runs.
• Freshman Thatcher Dietz (Westerville, Ohio/South) added a home run, senior Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) tallied two hits and one run, and senior Matt Moore (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) posted one hit, one run and one RBI.
• Senior Joe Horoszko (Seven Hills, Ohio/St. Edward's) earned the win on the mound in relief, improving to 2-1 on the season. He allowed three unearned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out three over the final four innings.
• The Hiram offense was led by Tyler Fernandez (3-for-5 with a home run and a double, 4 RBIs, 3 runs) and John Bender (2-for-5 with home run, 5 RBIs, 1 run).

Game 1 - Wittenberg 18, Hiram 15

• Hiram took an early 2-0 lead on a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning.
• Royer led off the top of the second with a double and later scored on a one-out sac fly from Gryskevich, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 2-1.
• Both teams put up big numbers in the third innings, as Wittenberg scored eight runs on nine hits, and Hiram answered with five runs on four hits.
• Nemunaitis led off the top of the third with a homer. O'Malley added a one-out double, which began a streak of seven straight hits for the Tigers. That stretch included an RBI single from Moore, RBI double from Rodriguez and three-run homer from Gryskevich.
• Trailing 9-2, the Terriers opened the bottom of the third by loading the bases on three straight walks to set up their five-run burst in the frame that cut the deficit to 9-7.
• The Tigers extended their lead to 11-7 in the top of the fourth via an RBI triple from Rodriguez followed by an RBI groundout from Gryskevich.
• Hiram added a run in the bottom of the fifth and four more in the sixth to take a 12-11 lead. The Terriers opened their half of the sixth with three straight singles followed by a double.
• Wittenberg answered right back with five runs in the top of the seventh for a 16-12 edge. A three-run homer from O'Malley highlighted the scoring, which also included RBI singles from Seibert and Rodriguez.
• Hiram got back within one, 16-15, courtesy of a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
• After a scoreless eighth inning, Wittenberg plated a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, extending the lead to 18-15. Pinch hitting, Dietz hit a leadoff home run, and Gladden added a two-out RBI single.
• The Terriers were able to get runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Horoszko struck out pinch hitter Logan Gallentine to secure the victory for the Tigers.
• Wittenberg out-hit Hiram by a 23-17 margin and committed one error to the Terriers' three.
• The Tigers finished with nine extra-base hits in the game, including four home runs, one triple and four doubles.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Royer was 4-for-5 with a home run and a double in the game to go with two RBIs and two runs scored.
• Rodriguez added two hits, including a home run, and had a team-high four RBIs to go with two runs.
• Sophomore James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) had a two-hit game with a triple and a double to go with three RBIs and a stolen base.
• Nemunaitis finished with two hits, including a double, to go with three RBIs and two runs.
• Moore added three hits and one run.
• Gryskevich tallied two hits, one RBI and two runs.
• Junior Nate Floyd (Akron, Ohio/Copley) earned the win on the mound after pitching four relief innings. He allowed two runs on one hit while striking out seven and improved to 1-1 on the season.
• The Hiram offense was led by Evan Fairbanks (2-for-5 with a home run, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) and Ben Yoder (2-for-4 with a home run, 3 RBIs, 2 runs).

Game 2 - Wittenberg 15, Hiram 8 (10 inn.)

• The Tigers trailed 6-0 through five innings.
• Hiram built its 6-0 edge with a run in the second inning, two in the fourth and three in the fifth.
• Wittenberg's comeback started with a leadoff walk to O'Malley followed by a two-run homer from Royer in the top of the sixth. MacAuley later added a two-out 2-RBI triple following back-to-back singles from Moore and Gryskevich, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 6-4.
• Royer hit a two-out double in the seventh and later scored on a single from Nemunaitis to bring the Tigers within one, 6-5.
• After a scoreless eighth inning, Wittenberg pulled ahead in the top of the ninth. Royer and Rodriguez hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Nemunaitis followed with a 2-RBI double that put the Tigers up 7-6. Gryskevich later added an RBI sac fly to increase the lead to 8-6.
• The Tigers were unable to hold onto that lead in the bottom of the ninth, however, as Fairbanks hit a two-out, two-run homer to tie the score after the Terriers' leadoff batter reached via a hit-by-pitch.
• Wittenberg stormed back with seven runs in the top of the 10th, which was highlighted by a grand slam to right field from Rodriguez and RBI double from MacAuley, both of which came with two outs. The big half-inning was aided by three Hiram errors.
• Junior Kyle Mahon (Dayton, Ohio/Centerville) pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th for the Tigers. After allowing a leadoff walk and fielder's choice, he induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
• Wittenberg out-hit Hiram by a 17-10 margin and committed two errors to the Terriers' six.
• The Tigers tallied six extra-base hits in the game, including two home runs, one triple and three doubles.

Quote - Head coach Brian McGee

• "Two very exciting games today. We talked this week about a few things heading into NCAC play. The guys just believe so much, continue to buy into the standards of the program, stay the course and refuse to give in. I'm so proud of their resilience. What a day to be a Tiger!"

Records & Milestones

• Eighth-year head coach Brian McGee is now 142-110 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Moore has 138 hits, 21 doubles and 100 RBIs in his career. He is 28 hits, 15 doubles and nine RBIs shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• O'Malley has 131 hits, 30 doubles, 15 home runs and 108 RBIs in his career. He is tied for sixth all-time at Wittenberg in home runs and is 35 hits, six doubles and one RBI shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Thomas has 115 hits and 27 doubles in his career. He is 51 hits and nine doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Tuesday for a home non-conference game against Capital at 6 p.m.