HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. — Wabash opened the 2026 season with a pair of late-inning setbacks Saturday in Virginia, falling 13-6 to Franklin & Marshall at Ty Cobb Ballpark before dropping a 9-6 decision to Hampden-Sydney.
The Little Giants slipped to 0-2 on the opening day of competition, surrendering a combined 22 runs in the two losses despite carrying leads into the middle innings of both contests.
In the season opener against Franklin & Marshall, Wabash led 6-4 through six innings before the Diplomats erupted for six runs in the ninth to secure a 13-6 victory.
Wabash struck first in the second inning when Bradley Gilliam singled back to the pitcher to score Caleb Ellspermann for a 1-0 lead. Franklin & Marshall answered with three runs in the third, highlighted by Nick DiGiacomo's game-tying triple and Michael von Zuben's RBI double.
The Little Giants responded with a four-run fifth inning. Ben Henke delivered an RBI single to score Gilliam, and DJ Mendez followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Will Fremion. Parker Smith added a ground-rule double to bring home Henke, and Carson Vlcan drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Will Wallace, giving Wabash a 5-3 advantage.
Henke doubled down the left-field line in the sixth, and Mendez followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 6-4. Mendez finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and a sacrifice fly, while Henke went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Gilliam added two hits as part of an 11-hit effort for Wabash.
Franklin & Marshall cut the deficit to one in the sixth and tied the game in the seventh before taking a 7-6 lead in the eighth on von Zuben's sacrifice fly. The Diplomats then broke the game open in the ninth, scoring six runs on five hits, including a two-run double by Zac Fuscaldo and RBI singles from von Zuben and Matt Hollender .
The Diplomats totaled 22 hits in the contest. Von Zuben went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, and Hollender drove in three runs. Jackson Woehr (0-1) was charged with the loss in relief. Starter Caleb Everson allowed three earned runs over five innings without issuing a walk.
In the second game, Hampden-Sydney used a six-run fourth inning to erase a Wabash lead and held on for a 9-6 victory.
The Tigers jumped in front 2-0 in the first inning before Wabash answered in the third on Henke's RBI fielder's choice. The Little Giants surged ahead in the fourth when Ellspermann doubled and Gilliam followed with an RBI single to tie the score. Ellspermann later scored during a rundown to give Wabash a 3-2 lead.
Hampden-Sydney responded decisively in the bottom half of the fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six runs on four hits. Noah Leonard's RBI single tied the game, and run-scoring walks to Sam Vick and Jack Wilson, along with key hits from Connor Powell and Greer Farr, pushed the Tigers to an 8-3 advantage .
Wabash trimmed the margin to 8-4 in the sixth when DJ Mendez scored on a wild pitch, then mounted its strongest rally in the seventh. Mendez lined a two-run single up the middle to cut the deficit to 8-6, and Smith followed with a single to put the tying run aboard before reliever Hayden Bynum escaped with back-to-back strikeouts .
The Tigers added an insurance run in the seventh and held Wabash scoreless over the final two innings. The Little Giants finished with eight hits and drew 10 walks but struck out 11 times and committed four errors .
Mendez again paced the offense, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. Ellspermann added two hits and a double, while Gilliam collected two hits and an RBI. Jarrod Kirsch (0-1) took the loss after allowing eight runs, seven earned, over three innings .
Across the two games, Wabash scored 12 runs and produced 19 hits but was undone by late-inning rallies and a pivotal big inning, dropping both ends of its opening-day slate in Virginia.
