The tall railways and steel factories of Gary, Indiana set the scene for the Wabash Baseball team’s victory Tuesday night at the Steel Yard. The Little Giants defeated North Park University 10-7 to earn its ninth win on the season.
The Little Giant bats were on fire in the cold night, lighting up the Vikings for 19 hits. “Offensively, this might be the best game we’ve played all year,” said head coach Cory Stevens. “Not only were we swinging the bats well, the base running was good and aggressive and we did well with our hit- and- runs.”
Wabash came storming out of the gates with a three- run first inning. Junior outfielder David Culp started things off with a one out single, and sophomore Matt Dodaro hit a wild shot that bounced off third base to knock him home. Sophomore outfielder Jake Thomas followed him with an RBI double, but was thrown out attempting to stretch the hit into a triple. Senior catcher Scott Hamilton added a single and scored off a Bobby Ritz ground ball that went under the glove of North Park shortstop Oney Guillen. Wabash added two more runs in the third and another in the fourth before North Park earned their first hit in the sixth.
Defensively, Wabash was led by sophomore pitcher Joey Niezer who gave up only two hits and earned seven strikeouts in seven strong innings of work. “Joey threw very well,” said Stevens. “He was working all three pitches well. The only reason he didn’t finish the game was that he had exceeded his pitch count and it was a non- conference game.” Niezer’s performance earned him his second win on the year.
Niezer carried a Wabash no- hitter into the sixth inning, when Viking third baseman Brady Josephson knocked an RBI single to center. The blistering Wabash offense came right back with runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh to extend the lead to 8-2. North Park added another run in the eighth and Wabash answered again with a two- run double from junior Shaun Rico to take a 10-3 lead.
North Park made it interesting in the ninth with a four- run rally. Sophomore Andy Weeks finally ended the threat by striking out catcher Ryan Campbell with the bases loaded. The uneasy finish was one of the only things that bothered Stevens about the game. “The relief pitching didn’t really shut the door,” said Stevens. “With that lead, we should have been coming in and challenging the hitters. Instead, we had a lot of walks and opened the door for North Park.”
The Little Giants resume play today with a double- header against Robert Morris Springfield at 1:30 Mud Hollow field. This weekend, the team takes on the number one ranked team in the nation with a three- game series at Wooster.