Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Wabash held on for a 9-7 victory in the opening game of a weekend four-game series at Denison, but lost 12-2 in the Saturday nightcap to earn a split against the Big Red.
The split allowed Wabash to stay even with Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan in third place in the North Coast Athletic Conference West Division standings. All three teams are 4-6 in divisional play, trailing Denison in first place at 9-5 (18-11 overall) and DePauw in second (14-15, 7-5 NCAC).
The Little Giants jumped on Denison earlier in the first contest.
Trey Fankhauser doubled home
David Oliger and
Tyler Hampton in second inning to give Wabash the 2-0 lead. An Oliger double — part of a 3-for-3 effort at the plate by the frehsman — scored a pair of runs in the third inning,
Lucas Stippler followed with a two-run single to put Wabash in front 6-0.
Denison tallied three runs in the bottom of the third, but the Little Giants responded with a run in the fourth on a bases-loaded ground ball that the Big Red were unable to handle.
Andrew Rodgers tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh with a single to bring home
Robby Hechinger and
Tanner Watson for a 9-3 lead.
The Big Red would not go down quietly in the final inning. Denison rallied for four runs, with two coming on a home run by Ryan Loehnert to trim the lead to two runs.
JT Miller closed out the contest with his seventh strike out of the ball game to earn the complete game victory.
Watson set a new Wabash single-game record by drawing four walks in the contest. In addtion to Oliger's 3-for-3 effort at the plate, Rodgers collected four hits in five trips to the plate. Fankhauser had two hits, while Hechinger,
Tyler Owensby, and Stippler each ended with one.
Miller improved to 4-3 with the victory with his sixth complte game of the season. He allowed five earned runs on seven hits with three walks. Miller threw 132 pitches in the victory with 85 crossing the plate for strikes.
Wabash took an early lead in the second game when Rodgers lined a shot that Tim Duxbury was unable to snare at second, allowing Fankhauser to score. The Big Red took control from that point on with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the first and three more runs in the third. The Little Giants added a run in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Stippler before Denison tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the eighth to end the game via the run rule.
Hampton and
Clint Scarborough each collected two hits for Wabash. Scarborough recorded two hits after his 13-game hitting streaked was snapped in the opening contest. Fankhauser, Hechinger, Rodgers, Oliger, and
Christian Vukas each picked up a hit for Wabash.
Josh Piercey took the loss, lasting three innings on the mound while giving up six earned runs (eight total) on seven hits with five walks and two hit batsmen. He also struck out two batters.
Nelson Novack silenced the Big Red in four innings of scoreless relief. The freshman scattered three hits and struck out two.
Jimmy Maxwell surrendered the final four runs in 1/3 of an innning off four hits and two walks.
A touching moment occurred prior to the start of the first ball game. When technical difficulties prevented the playing of the National Anthem, Wabash and Denison players began singing the anthem with the assembled crowd joining their voices to those of the players on the field.
Wabash (12-17 overall) will play the final two games versus Denison Sunday beginning at noon.
