Wabash split two Saturday baseball games against Cleary University and Butler University. The Little Giants edged out a 3-2 pitching duel against the Cougars before falling to the Bulldogs, 16-2.
Michael Herrmann earned the Little Giant winin game one with four stellar innings in relief. The right-hander allowed three hits and no runs with three strikeouts to pick up his second victory of the season.
"Michael came in and just shut it down," Coach Cory Stevens said. "We didn't have to go to our bullpen after Michael – that was great we were able to conserve arms with four games in two days."
Cleary threatened to do damage in the eighth inning. The Cougars had runners on first and second with one out, but Herrmann forced two fly outs after a mound visit from pitching coach Will Vasquez.
"I pounded the strike zone and they hit it to our guys who made a lot of plays," Herrmann said. "Coach Vasquez told me to relax and trust my defense."
Starter
Bryan Roberts received no decision after pitching five innings. Roberts surrendered two runs on three hits and notched two strikeouts. The Little Giants struggled to push across runs early in the game.
"We didn't execute early in the game with runners in scoring position," Stevens said. "Our hitters have to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Luckily, later in the game, we got some guys on base and moved them around."
A triple play epitomized Wabash's early offensive struggles. With runners on first and second and nobody out,
Matt Spaulding squared up a pitch with both runners moving. However, the ball went straight into the third baseman's mitt and he easily doubled off the baserunners.
Clint Scarborough broke through for the Little Giants in the seventh inning with a two-run single. Later with the bases loaded and one out,
Christian Vukas earned the game-winning RBI with a sacrifice fly to the left field warning track.
Nothing went right for Wabash against the Butler. Scarborough drove in
Lucas Stippler on a sacrifice fly to right to give the Little Giants a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom half inning. Butler then scored runs in all but one of the seven remaining innings it batted.
The Little Giants will return to action Sunday at 12 p.m. for a home double header against Millikin University.
