What started as a promising weekend for the Wabash baseball team ended in disappointment when the Little Giants lost four straight to the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops. Wabash lost 3-0 in ten innings and 11-9 in Sunday’s competition after dropping both game Saturday.
Wabash entered the weekend among the leaders the North Coast Athletic Conference Western Division standings. By the time Sunday’s games came to an end, the Little Giants dropped to 6-6 with only the slimmest hope of making it to one of the top-two spots in the final standings to earn a spot in the conference post-season tournament.
The Little Giants lost Sunday’s opener despite a nearly perfect pitching performance by senior Jon Horne (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier). The leftie held the Bishops to a bunt single and two walks through seven innings, but got no run support from his teammates. Wabash stranded eight runners, including a bases-loaded situation with two outs in the bottom of the seventh without sending a single runner home.
Horne lasted into the tenth inning, eventually giving up a run on three one-out singles. The Little Giants had an opportunity again in the bottom of the tenth to try and cut into the lead after putting runners on first and second with no outs. But a ground ball led to an out at third for the lead runner, followed by a double-play ground ball to end the game, sending Horne away with his third loss of the season, the second without a single run of support on offense.
Danny Schubert (Lebanon, IL/Lebanon) collected two of the Little Giants’ nine hits. Jon Elwardt (Naperville, IL/Naperville Central) also had two hits.
Wabash jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the final game of the series and appeared ready to end its five-game losing streak and capture at least one game from OWU. But the big inning that Ohio Wesleyan seemed to find in every game came up again. The Bishops scored three in the third and fourth innings to close the gap to one run before Wabash answered with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth. A Nick George (West Lafayette, IN/Harrison) single was followed by a single by Schubert. Both came home when freshman Bryan Scheffel (Fairfield, OH/Stephen T. Badin) hit a single to left field to put Wabash up 9-6. A five-run explosion in the sixth by OWU was more than Wabash could handle, sending the Little Giants to their 15th loss of the season.
George was 4-for-4 in the second game with a run scored and two RBIs. Scheffel and Billy King (Peoria, AZ/Peoria HS – Glendale C.C.) each finished with two hits.
Wabash (14-15, 6-6) will play its final home games of the season Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Little Giants will play two seven-innings games against Franklin College at Mud Hollow Field.