Box Score Wabash and Anderson combined for 29 runs on 34 hits, but the Little Giants turned a game-ending double play in the final inning to take a 16-13 victory.
The two teams played at the new Grand Park sports complex in Westfield, Indiana.
The Little Giants held a three-run lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning, but Anderson loaded the bases on three walks before
Christian Vukas recorded a strikeout then induced the final ground ball to
Tanner Watson to start the 4-6-3 game-ending play. Vukas earned his third save of the season, working one inning while allowing one walk with one strikeout.
Wabash cranked out 19 hits to help
Matt Bowman earn his second win of the season. Bowman pitched five innings and gave up seven earned runs on nine hits with three walks and a strikeout. After both teams scored two runs in the opening inning, the Little Giants tacked on three runs in the second to stake Bowman to a lead they would never relinquish.
Lucas Stippler started the scoring in the second with a one-out walk, then moved to third on a single by
Trey Fankhauser.
David Oliger walked to loaded the bases before
Andrew Rodgers drove home the first run of the inning on a groundout to third.
Tyler Owensby doubled to right to bring Fankhauser and Rodgers home for a 5-2 lead.
The Little Giants held a 11-4 lead when Anderson scored four runs to cut into the lead. Wabash answered with a five-run seventh inning. Stippler started the action once again with a walk and a stolen base --- one of six on the evening for Wabash. Fankhauser was hit by pitch prior to an RBI single by Oliger. Rodgers turned another ground out into an RBI for the second run of the inning, followed by another run-scoring hit by Owensby. After a
Tyler Hampton single,
KJ Zelenika and
Tanner Watson produced RBI singles for a 16-8 lead.
Anderson (14-8) refused to go away, tallying five runs in the eighth to set up the final drama in the ninth.
Owensby, Oliger, and Watson each finished with three hits. Rodgers and Owensby produced four RBI apiece, while Watson tacked on three RBI.
Wabash (13-8) will play a key four-game series against North Coast Athletic Conference foe and arch-rival DePauw University Saturday and Sunday in Greencastle.
