Doubleheader Sweep Of Kenyon Greets Tigers' Return Home

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Wittenberg baseball team picked up two wins in a doubleheader sweep of Kenyon at Carleton Davidson Stadium on Sunday, winning by scores of 6-5 and 7-4.

The Tigers improved to 8-16 overall with the wins against the Lords, who play in the East Division of the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Lords and Tigers split a pair of games in Gambier, Ohio, home of Kenyon College, on Saturday.

Junior Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) threw a complete game for the pitching victory in Game One, going seven innings while allowing six hits and five runs, three earned, and two walks against two strikeouts. His record improved to 2-2 on the season.

The Tigers put a four-spot on the board in the bottom of the fourth to answer Kenyon's single run in the opening frame. The rally came as freshman Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville) doubled junior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) across and sophomore Will Cousins (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) drove a sacrifice fly to left center to score Boucher. Senior Tyler Grau (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) wrapped it up by driving in two with a hit through the right side to score freshman Josh Kaplan (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and senior David Moore (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe).

Grau was back at it in the third, singling up the middle to score Cousins and kick off a two-run inning. Freshman Cal Slusarz (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga) pushed Grau around on a single to make it a 6-1 lead for Wittenberg.

The Tigers were done scoring but had enough to hold on for the win. Kenyon pocketed two runs in the fifth and a solo score in both the sixth and seventh, but after allowing a lead-off home run, Burgher buckled down and got out of the inning and the game with a win.

Wilson finished the contest 2-for-4 with one run, Boucher 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI, and Slusarz 1-for-3 with an RBI. Grau led the lineup with two hits in three at-bats with three RBIs and a run scored.

In Game Two, the Tigers followed much of the same format, mounting a rally in the first in response to a strong opening frame from Kenyon, and following it up with a two-run third inning. In this one, however, Kenyon's first-inning scoring totaled two runs, and the Tigers matched single runs from Kenyon in the fifth and sixth.

After the Lords scored twice in the top of the first, Wittenberg plated three runs in the bottom half. Boucher flied out to center field to allow Wilson to score to open it up, and Moore scored senior Tyler Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio/Cincinnati Moeller) with an RBI single into center and later scored on a balk.

The two-run third inning came courtesy a throwing error by the Lords' pitcher on a sacrifice bunt by Kaplan. Both Hutchinson and Boucher had singled their way aboard and scored on the error to make it a 5-2 game.

Both teams were then held quiet until the fifth, when Kenyon counted a run and Wittenberg answered with one of its own. Grau continued his explosive day by scoring Moore on a single through the infield.

In the sixth inning, the teams traded solo home runs, with Wittenberg's coming off the bat of Wilson.

The Lords went quietly in the seventh thanks to the save of freshman Jon Ellerbock (Tipp City, Ohio/Bethel), who worked a three-up, three-down inning with one strikeout. The pitching victory went to starter sophomore Jordan Hitt (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), who provided six innings of solid work, holding Kenyon to eight hits, four runs, two earned, on one walk with one strikeout.

The Tigers continue non-conference action with a 4 p.m. tilt at Thomas More, weather permitting, on Tuesday, April 15.

John Strawn '07