CHILLICOTHE — In a game that came down to the wire and was decided by a diving catch for the final out, the top-seeded Wittenberg baseball team defeated second-seeded and No. 2-ranked Denison 4-3 on Friday to advance to Sunday's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (26-15 overall), Denison (36-6 overall)
• Venue: V.A. Memorial Stadium - Chillicothe, Ohio
• NCAC Tournament site
• The four-team, double-elimination NCAC Tournament features top-seeded Wittenberg, No. 2 seed Denison, No. 3 seed DePauw and No. 4 seed Kenyon. Denison is ranked No. 2 nationally in both the D3Baseball.com Top 25 Poll and ABCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll this week.
• The Tigers are making their third straight, and 16th all-time, appearance in the NCAC Tournament and are seeking their first-ever championship. Wittenberg shared the regular-season conference title with Denison, marking the first NCAC regular-season title in program history.
• During the regular season, Wittenberg split its doubleheader with Denison, winning 10-7 in Game 1 before falling 9-8 in Game 2.

Stat Leaders

• The Wittenberg pitching trio of senior Nick Cunningham (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown), junior Charlie Schafer (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) and senior Austin Luther (Hughesville, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) held the Denison offense relatively in check. Cunningham got the start and earned the win to improve to 4-2 on the season. He allowed two runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out six. Schafer allowed one run on two hits and tallied three strikouts over the next 2.1 innings. Luther transitioned out of his typical starting role to record the final two outs and earn his first save of the season and the second of his career.
• Junior Ben Seibert (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) led the Wittenberg offense, going 3-for-4 with one run scored. He also made a diving catch in right-center field to record the final out of the game and secure the win for the Tigers with a Denison runner stranded on base.
• Junior Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) tallied two hits and two RBIs, and senior Parker Gryskevich (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) had two hits and one RBI.
• Sophomore Alex Nemunaitis (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) recorded one hit and two runs scored.
• Senior Matt Moore (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) had one hit and one RBI, freshman Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, P.R./Franklin County) had one hit and one run, and senior Conor O'Malley (Avon, Ohio/St. Edward's) added a hit.
• Jack Lutte led the Denison offense, going 4-for-5 with a home run, one RBI and two runs.

The Game

• Wittenberg took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Moore in the bottom of the first inning.
• Denison recorded its first hit of the game with a one-out single in the top of the third inning and was held scoreless until plating a run on a one-out RBI double to tie the score at 1-1 in the top of the fourth.
• The Tigers regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth after Nemunaitis and Rodriguez led off with back-to-back singles. Nemunaitis scored on an error that allowed Royer to reach base, and Gryskevich followed with an RBI single that plated Rodriguez for a 3-1 Wittenberg lead.
• An RBI single in the top of the fifth brought Denison within 3-2. The Big Red later loaded the bases with two outs but were unable to tie the score.
• The Big Red had runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the sixth, but Cunningham induced a flyout to get out of the jam.
• Schafer replaced Cunningham to begin the seventh inning and pitched two straight 1-2-3 frames.
• The Tigers added what proved to be a critical insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Nemunaitis drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt from Rodriguez and went to third on a passed ball. He then scored on an RBI single from Royer to put Wittenberg up 4-2.
• Lutte's leadoff homer capped a 10-pitch at-bat to bring Denison within 4-3. After the Big Red put a runner on base via a one-out single, Luther took over on the mound for Schafer and recorded the second out of the frame on a flyout. With a runner still on first, Denison's Erik Sundgren hit a ball to right-center field that appeared to be set to drop for a hit. But Seibert made a successful diving catch to end the game and secure the win for Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg out-hit Denison by an 11-9 margin and committed no errors to the Big Red's one.

Post-Game Quotes

• Senior Nick Cunningham on what led to his success: "Just getting ahead early and throwing a ton of strikes. I walked a bunch of guys but got the outs that mattered. The team played great defense behind me. I couldn't have asked for much more."
• Cunningham on having talented relievers behind him: "We work so well together. Being able to hand it off to guys like Charlie and Austin gives us all the confidence in the world that we're going to come out and win the game. It's awesome to finally see the results coming in."
• Cunningham on making the championship game and still being undefeated in the tournament: "It's huge. Last year, we had to stay here until about 2 o'clock in the morning playing Wooster in the rain. Being able to go home and get our feet back under us is awesome."
• Junior Ben Seibert on his diving catch in the ninth inning: "I was just trying to get there as quick as possible. Conor O'Malley in right field let me know I could go for it and that he had my back. I was just laying it on the line for my team.
• Seibert on advancing straight to the championship game without having to play a second game on Friday: "It's a great feeling. Everybody has smiles on their faces. Having a day off lets us rest up a little bit so we can come back ready to go on Sunday."
• Head coach Brian McGee: "What a great baseball game. Cunningham was dynamite, Schafer did his job again, and Luther came in to close it down. It was a total team effort today with everyone playing with great energy and effort. This group is special."

Records & Milestones

• Eighth-year head coach Brian McGee is now 159-114 all-time at Wittenberg.
• The Tigers have hit a program-record 39 home runs this season, breaking the prior single-season record of 35 from 1997.
• Moore has 162 hits, 24 doubles and 127 RBIs in his career. He ranks third all-time in RBIs and is four hits and 12 doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• O'Malley has 162 hits, 36 doubles, 17 home runs, 120 RBIs, 124 runs scored in his career. He is tied for fourth all-time at Wittenberg in home runs, and is tied for fourth in RBIs, tied for ninth all-time in doubles and ranks 10th in runs and is four hits shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in that category.
• Senior Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) has 146 hits and 34 doubles in his career. He is 20 hits and two doubles shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Cunningham has a 17-9 career record with 133 strikeouts. He is tied for seventh all-time at Wittenberg in pitching wins.
• Luther has a 14-6 career record with 149 strikeouts. He is two strikeouts shy of joining Wittenberg's all-time top 10 in that category.
• Senior Joe Horoszko (Seven Hills, Ohio/Saint Edwards) has a 15-6 career record with five saves and 124 strikeouts. He is tied for fifth all-time at Wittenberg in career saves.
• Schafer has an 8-2 career record with eight saves and 99 strikeouts. He ranks third all-time at Wittenberg in career saves.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Sunday at 11 a.m. to face Denison in the NCAC Tournament championship game in Chillicothe. In the double-elimination format, Wittenberg needs to win just one of a possible two-game set on Sunday to claim the tournament championship.