Wabash kept its hopes for a trip to next week's 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament alive with a series split at the College of Wooster Saturday afternoon. The Little Giants scored four runs in the 11^th inning to earn an 8-4 victory over the host Fighting Scots after losing game one 9-4.
 
Wabash improved to 23-15 overall and 7-7 in NCAC games. The Little Giants are fifth in the NCAC standings with two games remaining at Ohio Wesleyan Sunday afternoon starting at noon. Wabash must win one of the two games against OWU to tie with Kenyon (21-14, 8-8 NCAC) for fourth place in the final conference standings. Today's win at Wooster gives the Little Giants the edge in the tiebreaker against Kenyon. Two wins at OWU would give Wabash fourth place outright and a berth in the NCAC Tournament.
 
Wabash owned a 4-1 advantage in the eighth inning of game two against Wooster (16-20, 11-5 NCAC). The Scots rallied with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to even the score and force extra innings. The Little Giants loaded the bases with one out in the 11^th inning when pinch-hitter Nick Logan drew a walk to bring home the game-winning run. Camden Scheidt followed with another bases-loaded walk to put Wabash up 6-4. A sacrifice fly from AJ Reid brought Michael Galanos home with an insurance run before Logan scored the game's final run on a wild pitch for the four-run victory.
 
Jackson Woehr earned the win in relief by pitching 2-1/3 innings of no-hit baseball. He walked one batter and struck out one. Caleb Everson struck out a career-high 11 Wooster batters in 6-2/3 innings of work. He scattered seven hits and one walk to give up one run.
 
Wabash tied game one at 4-4 in the seventh inning after Galanos blasted his first career home run and Liam Patton launched a two-run homer for his fifth long ball of the season. The Scots responded with a five-run eighth inning to claim the game-one victory. Reid picked up three hits in five at-bats.
 
GAME 1 | Wooster 9, Wabash 4

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Trailing 1-0, the Little Giants first put runs on the board in the fourth inning. Patton came across to score the lone run of the inning for Wabash and get them on the board.
 
The Fighting Scots broke the tie and re-took the lead heading into the seventh inning when the Little Giants got back on the scoreboard. Wabash scored three times, with an output that included home runs from both Galanos and Patton, which evened the score at 4-4. Wooster scored five times over the remaining two innings to break the tie and grab the 9-4 win.
 
GAME NOTES
» Reid led the Little Giants offensively, picking up three base knocks in the ballgame.
» Wabash's highest-scoring inning was the seventh when it pushed three runs across.
» Wabash left 12 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Wabash pitchers faced 38 Wooster hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 12 fly balls while striking out three.
» The Little Giants drew five walks from Wooster pitching.
» Patton went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.
 
GAME 2 | Wabash 8, Wooster 4 (11 innings)

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Little Giants got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the top of the first inning. Wabash got an RBI single from sophomore Will Phillips, scoring Patton from second base.
 
The Little Giants held the Fighting Scots scoreless before expanding their lead in the fifth inning. Wabash pushed two runs across on a two-run double off the bat of Patton, scoring Galanos and Scheidt, bringing the Little Giants lead to 3-0.
 
Wooster narrowed Wabash's lead to 3-1 before the Little Giants stretched the advantage to 4-1 in the eighth inning.
 
The Fighting Scots tied the game at four before Wabash returned to reclaim their advantage in the eleventh inning. The Little Giants scored four runs in the inning, highlighted by a one-run flyout off the bat of Reid, bringing the Wabash advantage to 8-4.

GAME NOTES
» Everson struck out 11 Fighting Scots hitters. Everson put together 6.2 innings of one-run ball for the Little Giants.
» Patton led the Little Giants at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
» The Little Giants' power output was led by Patton, who had two extra-base hits in the ballgame.
» The Wabash pitching staff combined to strike out 14 Wooster hitters.
» Wabash's highest-scoring inning was the eleventh when it pushed four runs across.
» Wabash grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Wabash pitchers faced 49 Wooster hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and 11 fly balls while striking out 14.
» The Little Giants drew eight walks from Wooster pitching.


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