Wittenberg Baseball Hangs With #1 Wooster

Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg University baseball team battled the #1 team in the nation, the College of Wooster Fighting Scots, on Wednesday evening, dropping the NCAC doubleheader in a hard-fought showdown. The Tigers would hang with the top-ranked Scots through the first game, coming within three outs of taking down the #1 team in the country before falling 17-12. Wittenberg would have to battle from behind in the second game of the evening, chipping away at a five-run Wooster lead early on. The Scots would go on to take game two by a final score of 7-5. It was the top of the Tiger line-up, including Ryan Probst and Patrick Kenny who found success at the plate against the Scots. Probst would record four hits and four RBIs in the first game, adding two hits and a run knocked in against Wooster in the late game. Kenny would add four hits between the two games with a double in each contest, recording an RBI and a run scored.

GAME ONE

Wittenberg would tally 14 hits in the first game, coming back from an early 2-0 deficit after the first two innings of action. The Tiger offense would come alive with a massive five-run fourth inning. Hayden Knox would single down the left field line to plate Kenny for the first Wittenberg run. A two-run homer by Jack Hollinshead gave the Tigers their first lead of the day at 3-2. Gage Carpenter and Matt Baker would each record an RBI hit in the fourth to extend the Wittenberg lead out to 5-2. Wooster would come back to score five runs of their own in the fifth inning, along with adding two more in the sixth. Wittenberg would return with their own back-to-back-to-back scoring innings, pushing across two in the sixth and four in the seventh, before adding their final run in the eighth. Probst would double down the line in left, plating the first two Tiger runs in the sixth. Hollinshead would get things started in the seventh with an RBI single to right. Wittenberg would continue to chip away, as Probst drove in two more runs on a single to left, scoring Hollinshead and David Hamrick who just beat the throw to knot the game up at 10-10. Wittenberg would take a 12-10 lead over the #1 team in the counrty into the ninth inning before Wooster turned their offense on, hitting a grand slam to take the lead for good. Rusty Hayhurst got the start in game one, throwing four innings, allowing eight hits to 24 batters faced and striking out two. Adam Mays and Michael Martin would each provide a little over an inning of relief, with Mays striking out one. Tanner Griggs, Aaron Fasano, and Parker Tietz would each throw the final two innings, with Fasano striking out two.

GAME TWO

Wooster would jump out to an early 5-0 lead after two innings of action. Wittenberg would begin to chip away at the Scots advantage, pushing across one run in the second, fourth and fifth inning. Hollinshead kept his hot bat with his second homer of the day, sparking the Wittenberg offense on a solo home run in the second inning. Hollinshead tallied his second RBI of the game with a single through the left side, cutting the Wooster advantage to 6-2. The Tigers would push two runs across in the seventh inning, forcing a Wooster wild pitch and allowing Gage Carpenter to come in to score the fourth Tiger run of the game. Probst would tally the final RBI single to center field to score Baker for the final Wittenberg run. Wittenberg racked up nine hits in the game, leaving nine on base at the end of the day. A trio of Tigers took the mound to face the Scots, as Jace Barga got the start tossing three innings and allowing five hits and one strikeout. Tietz came in for three-plus innings of relief, allowing four hits and striking out one. Brandon Beegle closed out the game with two and a third innings of work on the mound, striking out one and allowing one hit.

FROM THE DUGOUT: "I am so proud of these guys. We have made tremendous strides as a program in a short amount of time. We have played a very tough schedule since day one, and yesterday was a testament to the challenges we have stood up to all year. I am not one for moral victories, but when you have a team as young and inexperienced right now as we do who takes the number one team in the country down to the final innings you can't help but find some positives in that. I know this team will continue to grow and accomplish some big things along the way," said Head Coach Brian McGee.

UP NEXT: Wittenberg will travel to Ohio Wesleyan on Sunday, May 6 for their final NCAC doubleheader of the year. First pitch is slated for 12:00 PM.