Wilhelm had already slammed a two-run shot in the first inning to put Wabash in front before the Grizzlies put three runs on the board to take the lead after one inning. Wilhelm scored again in the third inning after reaching on an error when catcher Brad Schmitt (Poseyville, IN/North Posey) smacked a triple off the right-centerfield wall. That opened the gates for the Little Giants, who plated three runs in the inning to take a 5-3 lead. The Grizzlies tied it again with a run in the fourth and fifth innings before Wilhelm hit his single-season record 11th home run.
Ben Prickel (Lafayette, IN/Harrison) pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief of Shawn Morris (Portland, IN/Jay County) to earn the victory. Jake Martin (Rushville, IN/Rushville) recorded his first save of the season.
"We needed to win a game like this," said coach Bill Boone. "All season long we've lost the close games when we couldn't get that one hit that could make a difference. When Wilhelm cracked that shot in the seventh, I knew that we could find a way to hold on and win. We finally got that hit."
The Little Giants lost the opener 4-2 to Franklin. Martin went 2-3 in the game, and Matt Carlson (Crawfordsville, IN/Crawfordsville) finished 2-4 from the plate. Wabash managed to score two runs in the seventh after trailing 4-0, but could not tie the game in the final inning.
The Little Giants move to 9-21 with the split. They will travel to Delaware, Ohio for a North Coast Athletic Conference series this weekend. Wabash will play two seven-inning games on Saturday and one nine-inning contest on Sunday.