Wabash got the 2006 season off to a good start with a 5-2 victory over the Rochester Institute of Technology Sunday afternoon before losing the nightcap 10-3 in the opening games of the season in Arizona.
Senior third baseman Jared Bogan crushed a solo home run in the second inning of game one against the Tigers to put the first run of the season on the scoreboard. RIT answered with two runs in the third off an RBI single by Mark Sapienza and a run-scoring double by Andy Scroger.
The Little Giants manufactured a run to tie the game in the top half of the fourth. Billy King reached on a walk to start the inning. He stole second on a pitch in the dirt and raced toward third after it bounced past the RIT catcher. As King arrived at third, the catcher's throw sailed into left field, allowing King to score and tie the game at 2-2.
A one-out walk to Chris Sides in the same inning set up freshman shortstop Matt Dodaro for his first collegiate hit, sending Sides to third. Phil Ramos broke the tie with a base hit for the eventual game-winning RBI, and Justin Vander Iest added an insurance run with a single to left. Another Vander Iest single scored Dodaro in the sixth inning to cap the scoring for Wabash.
Senior John Thiry went the distance to record his first victory of the season on the mound. He scattered eight hits over seven innings, striking out six.
Wabash fell behind early in the second game. RIT started the game with a triple by Matt Singer and never looked back, plating three runs in the first and six in the second. Sides put Wabash on the scoreboard with his first homer of the season, a solo blast over the left field wall in the second inning. The Little Giants would add two in the third, answering a single RIT run in the top half of the inning. Despite outhitting the Tigers 9-8, Wabash would go scoreless over the final four innings.
Freshman Tom Norman worked 5-2/3 innings in relief of starter Travis Moore. Norman held the Tigers to two runs and four hits with six strikeouts. King was 2-for-2 at the plate, while sophomore outfielder David Culp also added two hits to lead the Little Giant batters.
Wabash (1-1) will continue its week-long series of spring break games in Arizona Monday with a doubleheader against Monmouth College.