CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — The Wittenberg baseball team swept a doubleheader at Wabash in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, extending its current win streak to eight games. The Tigers used a ninth-inning rally for a 7-6 win in Game 1 and cruised to a 9-1 victory in Game 2.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (17-12 overall, 7-1 NCAC), Wabash (14-14 overall, 3-5 NCAC)
• Venue: Goodrich Ballpark - Crawfordsville, Ind.

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Senior Conor O'Malley (Avon, Ohio/St. Edward's) was 4-for-5 with a double, two RBIs, one run scored and one stolen base.
• Sophomore Alex Nemunaitis (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
• Freshman Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, P.R./Franklin County) tallied two hits, two RBIs and one steal.
• Senior Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) posted two hits and two runs.
• Sophomore James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) had two hits, including a double.
• Junior Charlie Schafer (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) earned the win on the mound for the Tigers to improve to 1-1 on the season. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five in 3.2 innings in relief of sophomore starter Mikey Eickhoff (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary). Eickhoff allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out two over 5.1 innings.
• AJ Reid led the Wabash offense with three hits, including one of the team's two triples in the game.

Game 1 - Wittenberg 7, Wabash 6

• Wittenberg opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning, plating a run on a sac fly from Nemunaitis.
• The Little Giants answered with an RBI sac fly of their own to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
• After junior Ben Seibert (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) was hit by a pitch with two outs, Thomas and junior Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, Ill.Lake Forest) drew back-to-back walks to load the bases in the top of the fifth. O'Malley followed with a 2-RBI single, and Nemunaitis added an RBI single to put the Tigers up 4-1.
• Wabash put together a three-run inning of its own in the sixth to tie the score at 4-4. The Little Giants opened by loading the bases on back-to-back singles followed by a hit batter. They then scored via a Tiger error on a failed pickoff attempt, RBI groundout and RBI single.
• Wabash took a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth via a 2-RBI triple.
• Freshman Thatcher Dietz (Westerville, Ohio/South) was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the ninth, and back-to-back singles from Thomas and Royer loaded the bases. A Wabash pitching change led to a strikeout of O'Malley, who was 4-for-4 up to that point, but the Tigers drew closer on an RBI sac fly from Nemunaitis.
• A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, and Rodriguez brought them both home on what proved to be the game-winning single to right-center field. Junior Jalen Williams (Catonsville, Md./Western Tech) and senior Parker Gryskevich (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) proceeded to draw back-to-back walks to reload the bases, but the Little Giants were able to get out of the jam trailing by just one, 7-6.
• The Little Giants put runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Schafer sealed the victory for the Tigers by inducing a fielder's choice, strikeout and flyout during the next three at-bats.
• Wittenberg out-hit Wabash by a 15-10 margin and committed four errors to the Little Giants' none.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Senior Joe Horoszko (Seven Hills, Ohio/St. Edward's) pitched a complete-game five-hitter for the Tigers. He allowed two walks and the one run while striking out eight, improving to 3-1 on the season.
• Royer led the Wittenberg offense with three hits, two runs scored and a stolen base.
• O'Malley tallied two hits, including a double, to go with one RBI and two runs.
• Seibert finished with two hits, one RBI, one run and one steal.
• Rodriguez posted a double with three RBIs.
• Dietz had a double.

Game 2 - Wittenberg 9, Wabash 1

• The Tigers got on the scoreboard early after loading the bases with one out via singles from Seibert and Royer and a walk to O'Malley in the top of the first inning. Rodriguez brought all the runners home on a two-out 3-RBI double.
• Wittenberg added to its 3-0 lead with three more runs in the top of the fifth. Thomas led off and reached base after being hit by a pitch, and Royer followed with a single. O'Malley proceeded to hit an RBI double, and Nemunaitis added an RBI sac fly. O'Malley then came home on a wild pitch, putting the Tigers up 6-0.
• The Tigers increased their lead to 7-0 on an RBI sac fly from Seibert in the top of the sixth.
• Wittenberg stretched the lead to 9-0 in the top of the ninth, as runs scored via a Wabash error and an RBI sac fly from Gryskevich.
• The Little Giants scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out RBI single.
• Wittenberg out-hit Wabash by a 10-5 margin and committed no errors to the Little Giants' two.

Quote - Head coach Brian McGee

• "Comeback city in Game 1, and then an absolute gem thrown by Horoszko in Game 2! That makes eight wins in a row! This team is fun to coach. They are soldiers with a lot of toughness. They love a good challenge and love to compete. Eickhoff and Horoszko both had fabulous starts, and Charlie Schafer did what he does. And our hitters hit well!"

Records & Milestones

• Eighth-year head coach Brian McGee is now 150-111 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Moore has 147 hits, 21 doubles and 110 RBIs in his career. He is tied for ninth all-time in RBIs and is 19 hits and 15 doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• O'Malley has 148 hits, 33 doubles, 16 home runs, 114 RBIs, 115 runs scored in his career. He is tied for fifth all-time at Wittenberg in home runs and RBIs and is 18 hits, three doubles and eight runs shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Thomas has 129 hits and 30 doubles in his career. He is 37 hits and six doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Horoszko has a 13-6 career record with 117 strikeouts.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday for a road doubleheader at North Coast Athletic Conference foe Ohio Wesleyan beginning at 12 p.m.