After splitting two games of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon, the Wabash baseball team split two more Monday afternoon at Wittenberg. The Little Giants won 12-1 in Monday’s opener, but lost 9-2 in the series finale.
Shane Noble (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) and Danny Schubert (Lebanon, IL/Lebanon) led the hit parade for Wabash. Noble pounded out four RBIs with a 3-for-4 effort from the plate. Schubert finished the game with three RBIs on two hits in four trips to the plate.
Wabash trailed 1-0 before picking up three runs in the second inning. The Little Giants had two runners on after back-to-back singles and a fielder’s choice when Schubert drilled a double to bring home Nick George (West Lafayette, IN/Harrison) and Phil Ramos (Zillah, WA/Zillah). A single by Billy King (Peoria, AZ/Peoria HS – Glendale Comm. College) scored Schubert to put the Little Giants ahead.
Schubert singled home another run in the third inning, starting another three-run inning for the Little Giants. Scott Hamilton (Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard) scored George with a single for the second run. One batter later King gave the Little Giants a 6-1 lead with an RBI single, scoring Ramos.
The Little Giants broke the game open in the fourth when Jared Bogan (Struthers, OH/Struthers) singled just before Noble cranked his second homer of the series and fourth of the season for an 8-1 advantage. Two innings later Noble deposited another pitch over the outfield wall after Chris Sides (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) for a two-run bomb and 10-1 lead. Hamilton added another run with an RBI double to left-center.
The final run of the game scored in the seventh inning. David Culp (DeKalb, IL/DeKalb) singled and eventually scored when pinch-hitter Bryan Scheffel (Fairfield, OH/Steven T. Badin) drove him home with an RBI double down the left field line.
Jon Horne (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier) held the Tigers’ offense in check throughout the afternoon. The senior left-hander gave up one run while scattering nine hits. He struck out four in seven innings of work to earn his second win of the season.
The Little Giants needed to save some of those runs to try and take three games from Wittenberg in the final game. George and King each had three of the Little Giants’ eight hits. Culp and Bogan helped Wabash to its two runs in the 9-2 loss with RBI singles. Culp drove home King after he started the game with a triple. Bogan slammed a solo home run in the sixth inning to cut the Tigers’ lead after Wittenberg put seven runs on the scoreboard in the second inning.
Wabash finished the weekend with an overall record of 14-10, 6-2 against North Coast Athletic Conference Western Division teams. The Little Giants play a non-conference game against Rose-Hulman Wednesday afternoon at Mud Hollow Field.