CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Wabash rallied late in the opener and answered several times in game two, but the Little Giants came away empty Wednesday afternoon in a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader against nationally ranked Wittenberg, falling 4-3 in the first game before dropping the nightcap 16-6 at Goodrich Ballpark.
Wabash moved to 9-21 overall and 3-9 in NCAC play after the two losses, while Wittenberg improved to 26-6 overall and 9-1 in the conference. Wittenberg entered the day ranked 16th in the American Baseball Coaches Association poll and 19th by D3baseball.com.
Game one turned into a tight pitchers' duel, with Wabash nearly erasing an early deficit before Wittenberg held on for the one-run win. The Tigers struck first in the opening inning when Tommy Chilicki tripled down the right-field line to drive in Landon Turner for a 1-0 lead. Wittenberg added another run in the second on James MacAuley's RBI double to left that scored Charlie Marando.
Wabash got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Ben Henke singled up the middle, moved to second on a groundout, and scored when Bradley Gilliam doubled to right field to trim the lead to 2-1.
Wittenberg pushed its advantage back to three in the fifth. Turner singled, Xander Rodriguez reached on a fielder's choice, and Chilicki lined an RBI double to left-center. Quintin Applegate followed with an RBI single through the left side to make it 4-1.
The Little Giants made their strongest push in the seventh. Caleb Ellspermann tripled to right-center, then scored on Landen Basey's single to center. Henke added a single, DJ Mendez walked, and Kade Buecher singled to center to bring home Basey and cut the deficit to 4-3. Wabash, however, could not bring home the tying run from third, and the Tigers retired the final six outs to end the game.
Caleb Everson delivered a sturdy outing in the opener despite taking the loss. The senior right-hander worked eight innings, allowing four earned runs on 13 hits with one walk and five strikeouts on 127 pitches. He kept Wabash within striking distance after the fifth, stranding traffic in the sixth and seventh. Jackson Woehr pitched the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one without a run.
Henke finished 3 for 5 in game one, Gilliam went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI, and Basey was 2 for 5 with an RBI. Ellspermann tripled and scored, while Buecher drove in a run and Edwards added a double as Wabash totaled 12 hits. The Little Giants were 4 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Wittenberg also left 10 aboard and finished 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
The second game featured a much faster start from Wittenberg, which scored three times in the top of the first. Alex Nemunaitis singled, Chilicki added a hit, Applegate drove in the first run with a single to left, and Daniel Gladden followed with a two-run double down the left-field line for a 3-0 lead.
Wabash answered in the second. Kade Buecher singled, Jimmy Hawksworth followed with a base hit, and Nate Brumfield doubled to left-center to score both runners and cut the margin to 3-2. The Little Giants trimmed it to 3-3 in the third when Basey doubled and Henke singled him home.
Wittenberg went back in front in the fourth on MacAuley's RBI double to score Cam Gladden, then broke the game open with a five-run fifth. MacAuley singled in two runs, Nemunaitis doubled home two more, and Rodriguez added an RBI single to stretch the Tigers' lead to 9-3.
Wabash showed life again in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Basey bunted for a single and Henke drilled a two-run home run down the left-field line, his second homer of the season, to pull the Little Giants within 9-5.
The Tigers kept coming. Daniel Gladden led off the sixth with a solo homer to make it 10-5. In the seventh, Applegate doubled in a run, pinch hitter Landon Turner ripped a two-run double down the right-field line, and Cam Gladden added a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 14-5. Wabash got one back in the bottom half when Aiden Ramsey doubled, moved to third on Basey's single, and scored on Henke's ground-ball double play.
Wittenberg closed the scoring in the eighth. Nemunaitis was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on Rodriguez's two-run homer to right.
Basey led Wabash's 12-hit attack in game two by going 3 for 4 with two runs scored. Henke finished 2 for 4 with three RBI, including the two-run homer, while Brumfield doubled and drove in two runs. Buecher went 2 for 4, Ramsey finished 1 for 3 with a double and a run scored, and Wallace and Parker Smith each added a hit. Wabash was 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left only five on base.
Woehr took the loss in game two after allowing three runs on four hits in one inning. Nick Wangler worked 3 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Trey Pitcock threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two strikeouts. Isaac Stallings covered the final two innings and surrendered six runs on five hits.
For the day, Wabash collected 24 hits across the two games but could not overcome Wittenberg's 32-hit output.
The Little Giants return to action at home Thursday for a non-conference single game against Hanover College.
