Baseball Hosts Ohio Wesleyan With West Division Title on the Line
Catching fire at just the right time, the Wittenberg University baseball team has put itself in prime position to win the North Coast Athletic Conference West Division. To stake a final claim to that coveted first-place position, however, the Tigers must first play a critical three-game series against nationally ranked Ohio Wesleyan this weekend at Springfield's Municipal Stadium Annex. Game time for Saturday's scheduled doubleheader is noon. Sunday's single nine-inning affair is slated for first pitch at 1 p.m.
Junior outfielder/designated hitter Trent West hit a home run against Wabash on Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader sweep.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Catching fire at just the right time, the Wittenberg University baseball team has put itself in prime position to win the North Coast Athletic Conference West Division. To stake a final claim to that coveted first-place position, however, the Tigers must first play a critical three-game series against nationally ranked Ohio Wesleyan this weekend at Springfield's Municipal Stadium Annex. Game time for Saturday's scheduled doubleheader is noon. Sunday's single nine-inning affair is slated for first pitch at 1 p.m.
Wittenberg, winner of nine of its last 10 games, comes into the series sporting a 20-11 overall record and a first-place NCAC West mark of 9-0. Ohio Wesleyan, which beat the Tigers in two out of three games at home a year ago to clinch the division crown before going on to win the NCAC tournament, comes in with records of 26-7 overall and 8-1 in the NCAC West.
Whichever team wins at least two games this weekend will head into the NCAC tournament as the No. 1 seed from the West Division. Allegheny and Wooster are playing this weekend for bragging rights and positioning out of the NCAC East Division. The No. 1 seed from each division hosts a three-game series May 4-5 against the No. 2 seed from the other division, with the winners advancing to the NCAC Championship Series in Canton, Ohio May 11-12. The winner of that competition receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Tigers are a senior-dominated team that is on pace to shatter several offensive school records. Spearheading an offensive attack that has reached double-digits in runs on nine occasions in 2002 and has a .362 team batting average are five players hitting .398 or better. Senior Scott Hirsch (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) tops the squad with a .477 batting average, senior shortstop Bryan Burke (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) checks in at .457, senior centerfielder Lance Dill (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork) owns a mark of .416, junior first baseman Ryan Born (Marion, Ohio/Pleasant) is at .398 and junior outfielder Trent West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) is also at .398.
017-02