SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers opened the home portion of the 2005 schedule, but someone forgot the bats. In a pair of fast-moving pitchers duels, the Tigers went down to identical 2-0 defeats in a doubleheader against Bluffton at Dillahunt Field.

The losses dropped Wittenberg to 3-13 on the season, while Bluffton improved to 12-4.

In the opener, errors did the Tigers in as senior Norah Gillam shut the Beavers down on just four hits, three of which never left the infield. However, with Wittenberg unable to get anything going offensively (two hits total), unearned runs in the sixth and seventh stood up for a 2-0 Bluffton win.

In the nightcap, it was more of the same. Freshman Taryn Hensel started and went six strong innings in the pitchers' circle, and sophomore Grace Wigton finished up with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. But the Tigers scratched out just four hits - two by sophomore Erin Collinsworth - and the Beavers again made a pair of one-run rallies stand up for the victory. This time, unlike in Game 1 when Wittenberg committed four errors, the runs were earned, although the second run was aided by a pair of wild pitches.

The Tigers round out a long stretch of nonconference games to open the season when they travel to Alma and Albion this weekend. The all-important North Coast Athletic Conference portion of the schedule opens next week.