A five RBI effort by sophomore shortstop Matt Dodaro and a strong pitching performance by junior starter Chris Schmaltz were wasted Wednesday afternoon with an eight-run rally by the DePauw baseball team in an 8-7 victory over Wabash at Walker Field in Greencastle.
The Little Giants took a 7-0 lead after 5-1/2 innings before yielding a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to the Tigers. Schmaltz left the game after working the first six innings with a 7-1 lead, scattering six hits while striking out five and walking only one batter. (View photos of the Little Giants' game at DePauw.)
DePauw got to the Wabash bullpen in a hurry. The Tigers scored three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth while holding the Little Giants scoreless. DePauw got a single to start the ninth inning. After reliever Joey Niezer got a strike out, the Tigers’ Matt Kleine stole second, scoring one batter later on a single by Adam Ford to tie the game at 7-7. Justin Weiner came on to run for Ford after he moved up to second base on a ground out for the second out of the inning.
After wild pitch moved Weiner to third, Drew Holy came through with the game-winning single to center to give DePauw the victory.
Dodaro started the scoring in the game for Wabash with a monstrous three-run homer to left field. The sophomore scored the first of two runs in the fifth inning after reaching base with a lead-off single and a stolen base. He came home on an RBI single by Travis Stirling to give Wabash a 4-0 lead. Jake Lee, who drew a walk prior to Stirling’s single, scored on a line shot by first baseman Shaun Rico that was snagged by Eric Reese and turned into a double play.
Wabash added its final two runs in the sixth inning on a two-run homer by Dodaro, who finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs scored and five RBIs. Jake Thomas added four hits in five at bats out of the 14 total hits for Wabash. Senior Scott Hamilton added three hits in his final game against DePauw.
Niezer suffered his first loss of the season in relief to move to 1-1 on the season. He worked 1-1/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits. Andy Weeks surrendered three runs in 1-1/3 innings on two hits and two walks.
Wabash (3-7-1) opens the home portion of its 2007 this weekend with series against Wisconsin-Platteville and Tri-State University. The Little Giants play Tri-State at 11 a.m. at Mud Hollow Field on Saturday before heading to nearby Crawfordsville High School for a 5 p.m. contest against Wisconsin-Platteville, before the two teams return to Mud Hollow for a noon game on Sunday afternoon.