Slow Start Dooms Tigers In 11-6 Road Loss To Heidelberg

TIFFIN, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers battled back from an early 10-0 deficit but ultimately fell short in an 11-6 road loss to Heidelberg.

The loss dropped Wittenberg to 10-26 on the season, while Heidelberg improved to 30-7. The Tigers have four home games left on the schedule, starting with a home game against Wilmington at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, that was originally supposed to be a road game on April 2.

Wittenberg pounded out a season-high 16 hits in the loss to Heidelberg, but the Tigers stranded 10 runners, one short of their season high. Fifteen of Wittenberg's hits were singles, while the eighth-ranked Student Princes were held to eight hits but also took advantage of four walks, a hit batter and two Tiger errors.

Heidelberg scored 10 runs in the first three innings to put the game out of reach. The Tigers scored single runs in the fourth and ninth innings and did their most damage with four runs in the eighth.

The pitching loss went to freshman Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville), who was followed to the mound by a trio of relievers who allowed just one earned run over the last 6.2 innings. Junior Stu Haley (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) threw 3.2 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run, freshman Trent Champlin (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) allowed just an unearned run in his inning of work, and freshman Danny Callahan (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) rounded things out with a scoreless eighth inning.

Offensively, 11 different Tigers had a base hit in the game, including four players with multi-hit performances. Freshman Cal Slusarz (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga) led the way with a 3-for-3 showing with an RBI, while junior Aaron Patrick (Eldorado, Ohio/Tri-Valley North), senior Tyler Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio/Cincinnati Moeller) and sophomore Will Cousins (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) collected two hits apiece. Freshman Josh Kaplan (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) added a pair of RBIs.