Wabash ended a six-game losing streak with a 6-5 victory over the Franklin College Grizzlies in the first game of a baseball doubleheader at Mud Hollow Field Wednesday afternoon. The Little Giants lost the second game 10-4.
Freshman Chris Schmalz (Greenwood, IN/Roncalli) (photo right) earned his second win of the season, working the complete game while holding the Grizzlies to three earned runs on seven hits. He struck out five while walking four.
Wabash fell behind 3-0 in the first inning before rallying for three runs in the bottom of the second. Jon Elwardt (Naperville, IL/ Naperville Central) drew a two-out walk, advancing to second on a single by Danny Schubert (Lebanon, IL/Lebanon) (photo right) . A walk to David Culp (DeKalb, IL/DeKalb) loaded the bases for Billy King (Peoria, AZ/Peoria HS – Glendale C.C.). King lofted a fly ball to rightfield that drifted away from the Franklin outfielder, glancing off his glove. All three runners scored to tie the game at 3-3.
Wabash avoided a big inning defensively in the second inning. The Grizzlies had runners on the corners with one out when Frank Marino was cut down at the plate on a double steal attempt. Catcher Scott Hamilton (Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard) (photo right) threw down to second where Nick George (West Lafayette, IN/ Harrison) took the toss and fired a shot back to Hamilton, tagging Marino out at home. Schmaltz struck out the last batter of the inning to end the Grizzlies’ threat.
The Little Giants added another run in the third inning when Jared Bogan (Struthers, OH/Struthers) reached on an error to open the inning, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Elwardt. Two more runs came across the plate for Wabash in the fourth. Hamilton and Shane Noble (Sullivan, IN/Sullivan) (photo left) each singled, moving to second and third on a base hit by Bogan. A George single scored Hamilton and Noble, the eventual winning run.
Franklin picked up a run in the sixth and one more in the sixth to trim the lead to one before Schmaltz shut the door to give Wabash its 15 th win of the year.
Franklin exploded for seven runs in the first two innings of the second game. After scoring three in the first, the Grizzlies’ Jerremy Neibert cracked his fifth homer of the season with a grand slam in the second. Wabash would score two in the fourth and fifth innings, but could not draw any closer.
Schubert, Noble, and Bogan each had two hits for the Little Giants in game two. George had two of Wabash’s seven hits in game one, along with two RBIs.
Wabash (15-16) will play its final North Coast Athletic Conference series of the season this weekend, traveling to Granville, Ohio for a four-game series with the Denison University Big Red.