Seven errors, 11 walks, and three wild pitches sent the Wabash baseball team to two losses at Wittenberg Saturday evening. The Little Giants fell 4-2 in game one after waiting through a four-hour rain delay. The wait wasn't worth the effort for Wabash in game two, dropping a 13-5 contest to the Tigers at Carleton Davidson Stadium in Springfield, Ohio.
Wabash surrendered a lead-off walk to the Tigers' Tyler Christello, who eventually came home to score the first run of game one on a double. A sacrifice fly one batter later put Wittenberg up 2-0. The Tigers added two more runs on back-to-back walks with one out in the second inning, followed by a ground out and a single.
The Little Giants would answer with two runs in their half of the fifth inning. David Culp and Mike Nowak drew back-to-back walks of their own. A balk moved both runners up one base to set the stage for senior Scott Hamilton, who laced an opposite-field single to right to score Culp. A ground ball out by Matt Dodaro brought home the second run, the last of the game for Wabash.
Game two saw the Tigers take another 2-0 lead after the first inning, but this time the Little Giants responded with a four-run effort in the second. Bobby Ritz singled then scored on an RBI double by Jake Thomas. Another double by Culp scored Thomas, then a third double in the inning by Kyle Rush scored Culp with the third run. Rush scored when Hamilton singled to right-center field, putting Wabash in front 4-2.
That lead wouldn't last long. The Tigers scored five runs on just three hits and four Wabash errors in the bottom half of the second inning to move back in front by a score of 7-4. Wittenberg would score in all six innings the team came to the plate. The Little Giants would add a run on a solo homer by Dodaro in the fifth with the game out of reach.
Ritz led the Little Giants with four hits in six at-bats in both games. Culp was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Hamilton, Rush, and Dodaro each added two hits for the Wabash.
TJ Siple went the distance in game one, suffering his third loss of the year after allowing eight hits, four earned runs, and three walks with three strikeouts. Chris Schmaltz took the loss in game two, working three innings with three earned runs, five unearned runs. The junior surrendered eight hits while walking one batter and striking out another.
Wabash (5-16-1, 0-6 NCAC West) and Wittenberg (8-10, 2-2 NCAC West) will meet for two more games on Sunday afternoon beginning at noon.