The good news for the Wabash baseball team is that it can still qualify for the North Coast Athletic Conference baseball tournament. Whether the Little Giants will be able to do so is a bit more confusing.
Wabash lost an opportunity to secure a place in the post-season tournament after dropping two games Saturday afternoon at Ohio Wesleyan. The Battling Bishops won game one 14-3 before crushing five home runs in the series finale for a 14-6 victory.
The four losses in the Easter weekend series moved Wabash to 6-6 in the NCAC Western Division, and 16-16 overall. The Little Giants enter the final week of the conference season a half game out of second, trailing Denison with a record of 6-5. The Little Giants are tied with Wittenberg (6-6) for third. Wabash plays host to Denison next weekend, while Wittenberg finishes conference play at Earlham.
The Little Giants never led in game one Saturday, falling behind 5-0 before scoring two runs in the sixth inning on a double by Matt Dodaro, who came around to score on a throwing error at the plate in an attempt to throw out Billy King on the same double. Ohio Wesleyan responded with a nine-run inning in sixth to extend its lead.
Wabash took a 3-0 lead in the first inning in game two on a three-run homer by Chris Sides. That lead was short-lived. OWU scored 12 runs over the next four innings before Phil Ramos smashed his second home run of the series to trim the lead to six. The Little Giants would get no closer, losing its first NCAC series of the season.
The Little Giants play a nine-inning contest Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Rose-Hulman before the Denison series begins Saturday at noon at Mud Hollow Field.