Young Pitching Staff Propels Tigers to Season Sweep Over Wilmington

SPRINGFIELD, OH - The Tigers took on Wilmington at Carleton Davidson Stadium, looking to continue to increase their win total after splitting a doubleheader against Adrian three days earlier. The Tigers did just that, featuring another powerful offensive performance, coupled with solid pitching from a host of hurlers, to cruise to a 10-2 victory. With the win, the Tigers improved to 12-5 on the season, while the Quakers' dropped to 6-8 with the loss.

The starting pitcher for the Tigers was sophomore Gavin Lones (Lakeview, OH / Indian Lake). He started the game off strong, allowing only two runs in a little more than an inning of work before handing things off to Chris Dawson (Loveland, OH / Milford) in the second inning. Dawson held the Quakers scoreless to pick up the pitching decision, only walking one batter and striking out another across four outstanding innings of work. After Dawson, Wittenberg sent five more pitchers to the mound, each working no more than one inning and collectively shutting out the opposition over the final four frames. 

At the plate, the Tigers came out swinging. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR / Franklin County) hit a home run that plated three runs, scoring Thatcher Dietz (Westerville, OH / Westerville South) from first and Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, OH / Tallmadge) from third. In the top of the secound inning, Wilmington plated their only two runs on a wild pitch and an RBI single, making it 3-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, IL / Lake Forest) scored on a sacrfice fly, Quintin Applegate (Delware, OH / Olentangy Berlin) stole home to score while James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI / Grosse Pointe North) stole third, and MacAuley later scored on a single making the score 6-2.

With a 6-3 lead, the Tigers kept pressing. Rodriguez crossed the plate once more on a single in the bottom of the fifth. In the seventh inning, Rodriguez crossed the plate for the third time on a sacrifice fly by Applegate. Later in the same inning, Royer scored again after stealing home, and Wade Thewes (Parker, CO / Lutheran) added the final run of the night on a wild pitch, making the score 10-2.

Team Leaders

• Dietz led the team in hits, finishing the game with three on the day.
• Rodriguez paced the team in RBIs with three.
• Rodriguez also scored three runs to take the team lead in that category as well.
• Four Tigers recorded steals, with Royer and Applegate both stealing home. 

Team Comparison

• The Tigers had nine hits to the Quakers' four.
• The Tigers turned three double plays in the game.

The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow Wednesday, March 26th, as they take on Marietta at home, with first pitch starting at 5:00 p.m.

Written By: Grace Tyler '28