Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Wabash came up on the tough end of a terrific pitching dual in game one at Ohio Wesleyan Saturday, losing 1-0 on an unearned run. The Little Giants led 4-2 in game two, but OWU rallied for a 7-4 win in the nightcap.
JT Miller held the Battling Bishops to seven hits and two walks through six innings, while striking out two. The only run came in the first inning after OWU's Sean Vollenweider singled, then moved to third on an errant double-play by the Little Giants on a line drive to short. A groundout by Steven Moore plated the only run of the contest. Miller took the loss to fall to 4-4 for the season.
Robby Hechinger led off the game with a walk against Bishops' starter Brandon Sega. The senior pitcher baffled the Little Giants for the remainder of the contest with a three-hit shutout while striking out six Wabash batters.
Tyler Hampton broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth, then moved to second with the potential tying run, but stranded on two consecutive flyouts.
The Little Giants rallied in the final inning with a one-out single by
Clint Scarborough and two-out single from
Tyler Owensby before a groundout to second ended the ballgame.
Wabash struck first in game two on a two-run single by
Andrew Rodgers with the bases loaded to score Hechinger and
Trey Fankhauser. OWU (16-14, 7-7 NCAC West) answered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half of the first before the Little Giants took the lead again on a sacrifice fly by Scarborough to score
Tanner Watson. Owensby tacked on another run with a ground ball to short to bring home Hampton from third, giving Wabash the 4-2 lead.
The Bishops tied the game with a two-run fifth off starter
Chris Widup. The senior worked five innings of six-hit baseball, surrendering three walks and a hit batsman along with two earned and two unearned runs.
Luke Holm came on the sixth but struggled with his control less than seven days after dominating on the mound at Denison. He gave up a run on two hits with three walks and two hit batsmen in 1-1/3 innings. Holm gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh for a 5-4 OWU lead.
Nelson Novack relieved Holm in the seventh, getting a double-play ground ball to Watson to end the inning. Novack got tagged for two earned runs in the eighth to finish with 1-2/3 innings with three hits and a walk.
The Little Giants mounted a scorign threat in the fourth with a walk to
Lucas Stippler and single by Hechinger. The pair stole third and second respectively — the 10th steal of the season for Stippler and 22nd for Hechinger. However, a fly ball out by Scarborough turned into a double play when Stippler was thrown out at the plate trying to tag up to end the inning.
Stippler provided another scoring opportunity in the sixth inning, reaching third on a two-base advance on a wild pitch afte reaching on a fielder's choice. Two infield ground outs left him stranded at third with the game tied at 4-4. The Little Giants would get a runner two second with one out in the eighth but could not bring the run home to tie the game after trailing by a run. Wabash stranded nine baserunners and were 2-for-20 with runners on base.
Hechinger and Rodgers each collected a pair of hits, while Hampton, Owensby, and Watson added a hit apiece.
The Little Giants fall to 13-21 overall and 5-9 in North Coast Athletic Conference West Division play. Wabash is scheduled to finish divisional play Sunday with a pair of games against OWU beginning at noon at Littick Field, but rain is in the forecast for most of the day. The pair of Saturday losses drops Wabash into fifth place in the current divisional standings, trailing OWU and Wittenberg in third place with identical 7-7 records. The LIttle Giants would need to sweep OWU Sunday to finish in at least a tie for fourth place heading into the NCAC Crossover Series next weekend.
