Box Score Wabash held a two-run lead entering the late innings of its spring break baseball game against fellow all-male institution Hampden-Sydney. The Tigers produced a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 4-3 victory.
The matchup between two of the remaining four all-male colleges stayed close throughout the evening. Playing at Piedmont College in Georgia, Wabash grabbed an early lead when
Tyler Hampton drilled his sixth double of the season in second inning, scoring on another double by
Tanner Watson. The Little Giants added another run in the third on an RBI single by
Christian Vukas, scoring
Trey Fankhauser.
Hampden-Sydney scored the first of two runs produced by a double steal in the bottom of the third. The Little Giants threw the ball away for their only error of the game, allowing the run to score to cut the lead to 2-1.
Wabash stretched its lead back to two runs when
David Oliger --- who singled to opening the fifth inning --- scored from third on a wild pitch. The Tigers got that run back in the seventh on a successful double-steal for a 3-2 game.
Senior
JT Miller gave way to the Wabash bullpen in the eighth inning after holding HSC to a single earned run on four hits and two walks while striking out six, including four consecutive strike outs in the third and start of the fourth innings.
Josh Piercey struck out the side in the eighth after giving up a walk and hit batsman to hold the lead.
Vukas came in to try and pick up his third save of the season, but the sophomore struggled to find the plate after recording the opening out of the inning. The Tigers' patience paid off, loading the bases with one out on three consecutive walks for the team's leading hitter on the season, junior Spencer Wiles. Wiles came into the game hitting .545 through the first 15 games of the season, but had been held without a hit in three trips to the plate. Facing
Nelson Novack, the HSC outfielder lifted a pitch into left-center for a walk-off, two-run double to earn the Tigers their 13th win of the season.
Vukas took the loss to move to 0-1 for the season. HSC's Aaron Stidham posted his first victory of the season in relief.
Tyler Owensby joined Watson and Hampton with a two-base hit --- one of seven in the game for Wabash. Hampton led the team with a pair of hits in three at bats. The Little Giants left 10 runners on base over nine innings.
Wabash (3-3) plays Piedmont College at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
