There may be no crying in baseball, but there is most certainly tying.
Wabash rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against William Paterson Friday evening to tie the game at 10-10. An inning later the game was called due to darkness, ending in a 10-10 tie. Earlier in the day the Little Giants lost a 5-4 decision to Rutgers-Camden after the Scarlet Raptors scored in the bottom of the ninth for the victory.
The Little Giants trailed William Paterson 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning when Wabash loaded the bases with singles by Travis Stirling, Shaun Rico, and Jake Thomas. That brought second baseman Mike Nowak to the plate. The sophomore blasted a shot over the right field fence for a grand slam, the second for the Little Giants during their trip to Arizona, giving Wabash a 4-2 lead.
The Pioneers responded with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth after Thomas singled home Jake Lee in the bottom of the fifth. With the Little Giants holding a 5-4 lead, WPU posted a three-run sixth inning to take a 6-5 lead. Another run by the Pioneers in the seventh put WPU up by two runs.
Wabash drew even on a two-run single by Bobby Ritz that scored David Culp and Kyle Rush. But the Pioneers responded once again. Catcher Don Hayes hammered a two-run homer to left, followed by an RBI single by Rick Pignatello to move in front 10-7.
Cue the comeback.
Thomas slammed a one-out double down the left field line, then scored when pinch-hitter Jon Brauchie singled to right to trim the lead to two runs. Culp drew a base on balls, moving pinch-runner Eric Carroll to second. A single by Rush loaded the bases, putting the tying run at second. One batter later that run came home when Ritz's single to left was bobbled, allowing Culp to score the tying run.
The Little Giants escaped trouble in the top of the 10th when a ground ball back up the middle with two on and only one out was snared by pitcher Keegan Leckrone, starting a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning. Wabash threatened in its half of the 10th, putting two runners on with two outs, but Thomas was thrown out at the plate for the final out in the inning. After a few minutes of discussion with both head coaches, the umpires declared the game a tie.
Wabash pounded out 20 hits in the contest, led by Thomas' 5-for-6 performance. The freshmen trio of Ritz, Rush, and Stirling each finished with three hits in the contest.
The Little Giants took a 4-3 lead in game one on Friday against Rutgers-Camden before the Scarlet Raptors tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. The Raptors scored the game-winner with a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth to hand Wabash its second consecutive loss by a team in its final at-bat of the game.
Scott Hamilton and Stirling each had two of Wabash's nine hits in the game.
Wabash (2-6-1) will conclude its Arizona trip Saturday morning with a 9 a.m. (MST) game against Dickinson College.