SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers opened the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) portion of the 2009 schedule with a pair of disappointing losses to defending champion Denison.
The losses, by scores of 4-3 and 6-2, dropped Wittenberg to 7-15 overall and, more importantly, 0-2 in the NCAC. The Big Red climbed above the .500 mark to 10-9 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
In Game 1, a Tiger rally almost netted an exciting victory. After falling behind 4-1, the Tigers put two on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-out, two-run single by junior centerfielder Cameron Catalfu (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland). But after she was cut down at second base to end the inning, the Tigers were retired 1-2-3 in the seventh as Denison held on for the win.
In Game 2, Wittenberg got on the board first with an RBI single from freshman shortstop Jessica Snyder (Northfield, Ill./New Trier), but the Big Red responded with three runs in the top of the second. After the Tigers got an RBI single from sophomore Jessi Allen (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) in their half of the second, the offense was stymied as Wittenberg managed just one more hit over the final five innings.
The Tigers have no time to hang their heads, however, as the Hiram Terriers come calling for a key NCAC doubleheader Saturday. The weekend also includes a match-up on Sunday with Transylvania. All four games are at Wittenberg's Dillahunt Field, and all the action can be heard on the Internet and locally on WUSO 89.1-FM.