Wabash seniors David Oliger, Christian Vukas, and KJ Zelenika were honored at Goodrich Ballpark Tuesday afternoon for their four-year contributions to the Little Giants' baseball program.
 
Wabash could not complete the celebration, losing both games of its doubleheader as the Little Giants dropped a pair NCAC West games against the Denison Big Red by the scores of 7-5 and 5-3. The losses solidified Denison as the winners of the western half of the NCAC while locking Wabash into fourth place in the division.
 
Denison (24-11, 12-4 NCAC West) scored three runs in the first inning of game one to jump out to a quick lead on starter Bryan Roberts and the Little Giants. The Big Red added a two-run homer in the fifth, as well as single runs in the sixth and seventh.
 
Wabash chipped away at the Denison lead with RBI hits from Sean Roginski to score Andrew Roginski in the second inning and again in the sixth inning.
 
A Wabash comeback was stymied in the seventh. A leadoff pinch-hit single by Zach Leander started the rally. After a Taylor Canter walk, Zelenika kept the rally alive when he singled home freshman pinch-runner Nick Chao, narrowing the deficit to 7-3. Andrew Roginski smacked a single down the right field line to score both Zelenika and Canter. However, the comeback would eventually be stopped with the tying run at the plate on a game-ending flyout.
 
Zelenika, both Roginskis, and freshman Jared Wolfe carried the Little Giant offense by tallying two hits each in the first game. Both Roginski brothers also drove in two runs in the effort.
 
Roberts (4-5) took the loss for Wabash in the first game. He pitched went five innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs while striking out five Denison batters. Tyler Cooper followed with two innings pitched, allowed two earned runs on two hits while striking one Denison batter.
 
Starter Cameron Glaze took control in the second game after allowing a Denison run in the top half of the first inning. The Little Giants answered in the bottom of the second inning with an Eric Chavez two-out single that drove in Tyler Downing to knot the score up at 1-1. Wabash took the lead in the bottom of the third inning on a Zelenika double over the left fielders' head. With a 2-1 lead, the Little Giants held Denison scoreless for the majority of the game while Wabash added an insurance run in the seventh inning off a double by Leander.
 
In the ninth inning, a string of Denison hits combined with two costly Wabash errors with two outs sparked a rally that scored four runs for the Big Red, giving them a 5-3 lead heading into the Wabash half of the ninth inning. Wabash got a one-out single from Oliger and a two-out single from KJ Zelenika to try and spark a rally for the Little Giants. The rally was halted at that point, giving Denison the victory.
 
Zelenika and Oliger paced the offense in game two. Zelenika went 2-for-4 on the day and drove in one run. Oliger went 3-for-5 and now sits third on the single-season hits list with 61 and trails Chris Deig's total of 64 set in 2011.
 
Glaze threw four innings and allowed just one run on three hits with four strikeouts. Ryan Thomas (0-3) was handed the loss after working 1-2/3 innings and allowed one earned run on three hits. Thomas' recorded moved to 0-3 on the 2016 season. Alex Dickey worked the final 1/3 of an inning and was charged with one unearned run on one hit.
 
The Little Giants (17-20, 7-9 NCAC West) travels to The College of Wooster to play in the North Coast Athletic Conference Crossover Series on May 7 and 8. Wabash will play a doubleheader against the Scots Saturday before closing the series with a single game Sunday.