Ask any one of the Wabash baseball players and to a man they’ll trade Friday’s record-setting home run for two wins Saturday.
Phil Ramos blasted a two-run homer in Friday afternoon’s second game for a single-season record 27th home run, but it was not enough to give the Little Giants a win. Wabash dropped game two 10-4 to Ohio Wesleyan after losing game one 10-0 at Littick Field.
"We can’t focus on what we did wrong today, we’ve got to try and take two Saturday and split the overall series," said head coach Tom Flynn after Friday’s loss ended any chances for the Little Giants to claim an outright North Coast Athletic Conference Western Division title. Wabash could still tie for first place in the division by winning two games Saturday and sweeping next weekend’s home series against Denison.
Ramos’ two-run blast to left-center field in the sixth inning broke the 1998 team record of 26 home runs while also trimming the Ohio Wesleyan lead to six runs. The Little Giants had opened the game with a 1-0 lead after being shut out in game one on an RBI double by Jared Bogan. The Bishops responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run home run by first baseman AJ Dote. He added a three-run homer in the third on the way to a six RBI effort.
Ramos and Bogan had two of the Little Giants’ seven hits in the game. Wabash managed only three hits in the first contest.
Wabash (16-14, 6-4 NCAC West) concludes its weekend series in Delaware, Ohio Saturday afternoon with a noon doubleheader.