This past weekend, the Wittenberg Tigers took on the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops in a four-game series. The Bishops traveled to Springfield where they played against the Tigers in a double-header on Saturday and another on Sunday.
Saturday morning started off a bit chilly and cloudy as the first pitch of the day’s game was thrown by the Tiger’s Jonathon Forster, ’18. The innings progressed slowly as both teams were playing well and serving up its own three up, three down innings. However, in the fourth inning, the Bishop’s Colin Stolly, who plays second base, brought in the first run of the day. Later in the inning, a hit from Timmy Bates, ’18, knocked in Witt’s first run from Josh Kaplan, ’17, second baseman.
Over the next few innings, many bases were stolen, home in particular, as both the Bishops and the Tigers fought for the lead of the game. It was the top of the eighth inning that was the most exciting as the Bishops had not one, not two, but, three homeruns, concluding the at bat with five runs and three hits. The Bishops racked up another four runs in the ninth inning, concluding the game with 15 runs and Witt with five.
The Tigers came back out the following game, a little tired but ready to play some baseball. The first inning was eventful on both sides of the diamond, but at the bottom of the second inning, the Tigers scored with Adam Mays, ’20, knocking in Bates, followed by Dalton Boucher, ’17, scoring a run due to an error made by the Bishops’ third baseman, and then Noble Moore ,’19, hit a double to centerfield and knocked Mays for a total of three runs for the Tigers. Two innings later, the Bishop’s scored twice, once due to first baseman, Devin Van Winkle, hitting a homerun. Wittenberg scored three more times that game, once in the bottom of the fifth inning when Bates tripled to right field knocking in Kaplan and Jace Barga, ’18, for two RBI’s and a third time in the bottom of the seventh when Ryan Probst, ’20, singled to center field knocking in Brad Malott, ’19. The Tigers took the victory of the second game with a 6-3 victory over the Bishops.
On Sunday morning, the teams returned with renewed energy and a re-chalked diamond.
Neither team scored until the third inning of the third game of the weekend, when the Bishops’ Aaron Strausbaugh hit a double and knocked in two RBI’s. The Bishops scored again in the fifth inning when several players scored with RBI’s. In the bottom of the fifth, Wittenberg scored six runs; Bates, Boucher, Chace Carpenter, ’20, Patrick Kenny, ’20, Malott and Matt Baker, ’19, scored. This was the most successful inning for the Tigers of the game. Bates, ’18, scored in the bottom of the sixth inning but the most exciting run of the game happened in the bottom of the eighth inning when Kenny hit a homerun. This wrapped up the game with an 8-7 win for the Tigers.
After a half hour break from the diamond, the teams headed back out for the final game of the four-game series. Both teams scored in the first inning. The Bishop’s Van Winkle got up and hit a homerun, knocking in two RBI’s and scoring three runs. Wittenberg came up to bat and Bates hit a double to left field, sending in two teammates and putting Witt ahead. But, in the top of the third inning the Bishop’s Van Winkle hit another homerun, knocking in a teammate and scoring two runs. Over the next six innings, the two teams went back and forth in terms of scoring. Bates scored twice, Boucher scored and so did Kaplan. But, as hard as the team fought, the Tigers fell to the Battling Bishops with a 7-9 loss.
The Tigers take on the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears on April 5, then will have another four-game series against the DePauw Tigers on April 8-9 at Carleton-Davidson Stadium.
