Wittenberg Battles No. 1 Denison in Doubleheader, Falls 8-7 and 13-12

SPRINGFIELD, OH – Wittenberg Baseball and No. 1 ranked Denison faced off in a Saturday doubleheader that featured two tightly contested games, but the Tigers came up just short in both contests, falling 8-7 in game one and 13-12 in extra innings in game two.

Game 1: Denison 8, Wittenberg 7

Wittenberg opened the day with an early spark, scoring two runs in the opening innings. Quintin Applegate (Delaware, OH / Olentangy Berlin) delivered an RBI single before Daniel Gladden (Galena, OH / Olentangy Berlin) followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.

Denison responded in the sixth inning with a four-run rally to take the lead, but Wittenberg answered immediately in the bottom half. The Tigers strung together four consecutive singles from Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy), Landon Turner (Tipp City, OH / Tippecanoe), Applegate, and Gladden to plate two runs and tie the game.

In the seventh inning, Turner continued his strong performance at the plate, collecting his third hit of the game with a two-RBI go-ahead single. Wittenberg later added another run after a Denison error to extend its lead.

Out of the bullpen, Ben Sells (Urbana, OH / Graham) delivered key relief work, pitching 1.1 innings while striking out two and escaping a jam.

Denison rallied in the top of the ninth with two unearned runs to regain the lead, and Wittenberg was unable to answer in the bottom half, falling 8-7 in the opener.

Game 2: Denison 13, Wittenberg 12 (11 innings)

With the game tied 2-2 in the fourth inning, Denison hit a three-run home run to take a 5-2 lead. Wittenberg responded quickly, as Alex Nemunaitis (Perrysburg, OH / Ottawa Hills) blasted a two-run home run to pull the Tigers within one at 5-4.

In the sixth inning, Turner delivered again, ripping a two-RBI single to cut Denison's lead to 8-6.

Denison extended the margin to 10-6 in the top of the eighth, but Wittenberg continued to battle. Applegate drove in a run with an RBI single and Corbin Marshall (Doylestown, OH / Chippewa) added a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 10-8.

In the bottom of the ninth, Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR / Franklin County) came through with a clutch two-out, two-run home run to tie the game at 10 and force extra innings.

Denison scored twice in the top of the 10th, but Wittenberg responded again. Gladden recorded an RBI single, and Ashton Newton (Medina, OH / Cloverleaf) drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the tying run and make it 12-12.

After Denison pushed across one run in the top of the 11th, Wittenberg was unable to respond in the bottom half, dropping game two 13-12.

After two one-run losses to the top-ranked team in the nation, Wittenberg moves to 26-8 overall and 9-3 in conference and will look to bounce back with a home doubleheader against Oberlin on Tuesday, April 28. Denison improved to 32-1 on the season and extended its record-breaking winning streak to an incredible 31 in a row.

Written by: Luke Thomas