The Wabash baseball team's run output turned as cold as the weather Saturday when the Little Giants dropped a pair of games to end their spring break trip. Wabash lost 5-1 to Rhodes College in game one before falling 3-1 to Millsaps College in game two.
Both games were originally scheduled to be played at Rhodes College in Memphis, but had to be moved to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi due to inclement weather conditions which included cold winds and a mix of rain and snow.
Junior pitcher Joey Niezer suffered his third loss of the season on the mound after surrendering three runs in four innings. He struck out six, gave up three hits while walking four and hitting another three batters. Patrick McCarley worked three innings and allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and three strike outs. Willie Matis continued his scorless streak in relief, working the eighth inning with only a hit batsman against two flyouts and a ground out.
Wabash had an opportunity to score big early in the game when Matt Dodaro led off the second inning with a triple. David Seibel finally brought him home on a single with two outs after two strikeouts failed to produce the run. A third strikeout ended the inning with Seibel stranded at first. The Little Giants never put a runner past second base for the remainder of the game.
Dodaro and Seibel had two of Wabash's four hits, joined by Joe Johnson and Bobby Ritz.
Game two was an old-fashioned pitcher's duel between Wabash righty Mike Korhagen and Millsaps' Travis Bogue. Korfhagen held the Majors scoreless for four innings before Derrik Bolan led off the fifth with a solo home run. Millsaps added one more run in the inning and another in the seventh to take a 3-0 lead.
Korfhagen surrendered two runs in six innings of work. He gave up only two hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Andy Weeks pitched two innings, allowing one run on one hit and one walk.
Wabash scored its only run of the game in the eighth when Dodaro, after reaching base on a fielder's choice, went to third on a double by Tanner Coggins. Shaun Rico brought the run home wiht a ground out to short.
Dodaro and Coggins each had two of Wabash's eight hits in the game. The Little Giants stranded nine base runners in the contest compared to three for the Majors.
The losses snapped a three-game winning streak for the Little Giants, moving the team to 3-6 for the season and 3-3 for the week-long spring break trip. Wabash heads to Greencastle, Indiana Tuesday afternoon for a nine-inning game at DePauw University beginning at 4 p.m.