Tigers Swept at Wooster as Comeback Falls Short

WOOSTER, OH - The Tigers traveled to Wooster to take on the Fighting Scots and looked to build on their six-game win streak. However, Wooster put an end to the Tigers' win streak by winning the first game 2-0 and, despite a strong fifth inning in game two for the Tigers, they were unable to fully complete the comeback in a 7-5 loss. The Tigers dropped to 17-7 overall and 2-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), while the Fighting Scots improved to 18-10 overall and 8-0 in the NCAC.

Tommy Anthony (Toronto, Ontario / Humberside Collegiate Institute) took the mound for the Tigers in game one. In four innings of work, he allowed two runs on four hits and struck out one. Wade Thewes (Parker, CO / Lutheran) entered in relief and threw three scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out four batters. Kyle Mahon (Dayton, OH / Centerville) came in to pitch one inning for the Tigers and only gave up one hit and one walk while holding the Fighting Scots scoreless. Despite the Tigers' pitching only giving up two runs, the offense got it going in the game.

The lone scoring play from Wooster was an RBI single in the fourth. Offensively, however, the Tigers managed two doubles, but they were unable to capitalize once the runners got into scoring position.

Team Leaders

• Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR / Franklin County) led the Tigers in hits with two and three other players logged one hit each.
• Rodgriguez and Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy) each logged a double for the only extra base hits for the Tigers.

Team Comparison

• The Fighting Scots led both teams in the statistical categories, but the Tigers were able to keep the hits battle close, 7-5.

Game Two

Game two was another close one, with the Tiger bullpen doing the job for most of it. Andrew Rust (Dublin, OH / Dublin Coffman) started the game and only went two-thirds of an inning and allowed six earned runs. After Rust was relieved by Mahon, four more relievers came in, with Charlie Schafer (Beavercreek, OH / Beavercreek) working the last two and one-third innings for the Tigers. He did not allow a single hit and struck out six batters.

After Wooster scored the first six runs of the game, Alex Nemunaitis (Perrysburg, OH / Ottawa Hills) hit an RBI single in the fourth, but Wooster answered right back to extend the lead back to six. Wittenberg was ready to answer in the sixth inning as Rodriguez caused a run to cross the plate by drawing a walk with the bases loaded. Parker Gryskevich (Brownsburg, IN / Brownsburg) was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, and Nemunaitis singled again to drive home two runs to make the score 7-5. At that point, the Tigers bats cooled and the score stayed that way until the end of the game.

Team Leaders

• Nemunaitis paced the team with three hits in the game and Gryskevich had two to be the only other player with more than one hit.
• Nemunaitis also took the team lead in RBI with three as Rodriguez and Gryskevich each had one.
• All five of the Tigers' runs were scored by different players, as none had more than one each.

Team Comparison

• The Tigers only had one hit less than the Fighting Scots at 8-7 and didn't commit an error compared to one from Wooster.
• The Wittenberg ptiching also struck out more batters , but allowed more walks.

The Tigers will return to the field on Wednesday, April 16th, where they will take on Wabash in a doubleheader at home with the first ptich of game on coming at noon.

Written By: Grant Martin