Tiger Baseball Shuts Down Bluffton After Long Layoff

BLUFFTON, OH - Wittenberg Baseball finally got back on the diamond after everything from torrential rain to a rare April snowfall postponed multiple games over the course of a week, and the Tigers picked up right where they left off in a thorough 9-0 win over Bluffton.

Wittenberg improved to 17-5 overall, heading into a key North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) doubleheader at Wooster on Saturday, April 12. The win was the Tigers' sixth in a row, while Bluffton's struggles continued as the Beavers fell to 5-19 overall.

The tone was set for the rout on the mound as six different pitchers limited the Beavers to just three hits - a first-inning double, an infield single, and an eighth-inning single that was negated by a double play just a few pitches later. Andrew Rust (Dublin, OH / Dublin Jerome), Mikey Eickhoff (Akron, OH / St. Vincent-St. Mary), Tommy Anthony (Toronto, Ontario / Humberside Collegiate Institute), Wade Thewes (Parker, CO / Lutheran), Kyle Mahon (Dayton, OH / Centerville), and Charlie Shafer (Beavercreek, OH / Beavercreek) all took turns, with Thewes getting credit for the win thanks to his two scoreless innings of work.

Offensively, Wittenberg finished with nine hits and also benefited from eight walks issued by Bluffton pitching. The Tigers opened the scoring in the third inning with four runs, keyed by a bases loaded double by Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, IL / Lake Forest) that drove home three runs. Alex Nemunaitis (Perrysburg, OH / Ottawa Hills) added a two-run single, Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR / Franklin County) picked up a pair of RBIs with a groundout and a sacrifice fly, and Ashton Newton (Medina, OH / Cloverleaf) delivered a two-run single as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning to account for the game's final two runs. In addition, Thatcher Dietz (Westerville, OH / South) collected three hits in his four plate appearances.

Written By: Ryan Maurer