Baseball Team Reaches 20 Wins with Sweep of Hiram

Springfield, OH-The Tigers welcomed the Hiram Terriers to Carleton Davidson Stadium in hopes to collect their 19th and 20th wins of the season and put themselves in one of the top four positions in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings. The Tigers were able to complete both goals, as they won both games against the Terriers, 12-11 and 9-3, and are now tied with Kenyon for the fourth and final spot in the NCAC Baseball Tournament, heading into a crucial week that includes a doubleheader against the Owls.

With the wins, the Tigers improved to 20-8 (5-3 NCAC), while the Terriers fell to 12-15-1 (4-6 NCAC).

The first game seemed to start the same as usual for the Tigers, as they gave up four runs in the first inning and five in the second to quickly face a nine-run deficit. Ben Sells (Urbana, OH / Graham) entered the game in relief and threw four and one-third innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and adding a strikeout to keep Wittenberg within striking distance.

The Tigers went the first four innings without scoring, but the bats started getting hot in the bottom of the fifth. The Tiger scoring started with a two-run double to right center from Alex Nemunaitis (Perrysburg, OH / Ottawa Hills), followed by a three-run homer from Rocco Royer (Lake Bluff, IL / Lake Forest) to cut the deficit to four. The Tigers kept the momentum up as James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI / Grosse Pointe North) singled home a run, and after a sacrifice fly, Nemunaitis and Royer each drove home another run to tie the game at nine.

Hiram regained the lead by scoring two runs in the top of the eighth, but the Tigers answered with two solo shots, one from Royer and another from Thatcher Dietz (Westerville, OH / Westerville South), before tacking on the winning run as Quintin Applegate (Delaware, OH / Olentangy Berlin) doubled home a run to make the final score 12-11 and give the Tigers the win. In total, the Tigers threw six pitchers in the game, and Charlie Schafer (Beavercreek, OH / Beavercreek) came away with his third win of the season.

Game One Team Leaders

• Royer lead the team in hits with three and he was followed up by Nemunaitis, Dietz and Applegate, who had two each.
• With his two home runs, Royer also led the team in RBI with five and Nemunaitis was second with three.
• Royer, Nemunaitis, Dietz and Ashton Newton (Medina, OH / Cloverleaf) shared the lead in runs with two apiece.
• Schafer led all Tiger pitchers in strikeouts with two over one and one-third innings.

Game One Team Comparison

• The Tigers were outhit, 14-12
• Wittenberg commited two errors, compared to three for Hiram.
• Wittenberg also led in extra base hits, 7-1, three of which were home runs.
• The Tigers also struck out four times and drew six walks, while the Terriers' numbers in those two categories were five and five.

Game Two

Game two started off much stronger for the Tigers as Schafer got the start on the mount and threw four innings of shutout ball, allowing only two hits while striking out four. Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy) relieved Schafer to the tune of one earned run over two and two-third innings before handing the ball over to Tommy Anthony (Toronto, Ontario / Humberside Collegiate Institute), who tossed two and one-third shutout innings, allowing only two hits.

The Tigers opened up the scoring much earlier this time, as Zach Meyer (Powell, OH / Olentangy Liberty) drove in two runs on a double in the second inning before the Tigers added to their lead in the sixth inning with an RBI single from Parker Gryskevich (Brownsburg, IN / Brownsburg) and a three-run homer from Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR / Franklin County) to make the score 6-0. Hiram put three runs on the board in the seventh to cut the deficit to three before Royer went yard again to drive in another three runs and close out the scoring for both team in order for the game to end in a 9-3 Tiger win.

Game Two Team Leaders

• Rodriguez led the team in hits with three and shared the lead in RBI with Royer as they both hit three-run homers.
• Rodriguez shared the team lead in runs scored with Chilicki as each accounted for two.
• Schafer once again paced the team in strikeouts with four in four innings of work.

Game Two Team Comparison

• The Tigers led in hits, 11-5, with six going for extra bases. The Terriers didn't log a single extra-base hit.
• Wittenberg had three errors to only one for Hiram, but the Tigers were also able to turn four double plays compared to the three the Terriers turned.
• The Wittenberg pitchers allowed less walks, 3-1, and the Terriers were caught stealing once as the Tigers didn't get caught once.

The Tigers will return to action on Tuesday, April 22, as they take on the Heidelberg Student Princes at Carleton Davidson Stadium for one game with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. before getting back into conference play as they take on Kenyon in a doubleheader at home on April 23.

Written By: Grant Martin