Baseball Notches First Win Of Season Over Westfield State

LAKELAND, Fla. – Wittenberg baseball picked up its first win of the 2014 season with a last-inning 3-2 victory over Westfield State on Thursday, improving to 1-4 in the process.

With a 2-2 score in the top of the ninth, junior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) drove in pinch-running sophomore Preston Snodgrass (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) with a ground ball to second base. Freshman Jon Ellerbrock (Tipp City, Ohio/Bethel) got two outs and freshman Tyler Powell (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana) got the third in a scoreless and hitless bottom half to seal the win.

The final scoreless frame for the Tiger staff followed 2-1/3 innings of hitless pitching from sophomore Luke Black (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) and sophomore Seth Parrish (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), who picked up the win.

Junior starting pitcher Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) gave up 10 hits in his 5-2/3 innings of work but limited Westfield State to two runs and only one earned run. He walked three but struck out five.

Wittenberg got on the board first thanks to an RBI single from senior Alex Lochard (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney) to score senior Brandon Jordan (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca). Westfield countered with two runs in the sixth before senior Tyler Grau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) brought in senior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe) with a single in the top of the eighth.

Wilson finished 1-for-5 with the game-winning RBI, and Grau and Lochard provided the other runs. Moore completed a 3-for-4 day and Lochard finished 2-for-4.

Wittenberg continues the Spring Break expedition with a doubleheader versus Hope tomorrow, Friday, March 14, beginning at 3 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Field No. 2 in Auburndale, Fla.

John Strawn '07