Barely two weeks into the 2008 season, the Wabash baseball team is now ready to show its home fans what this year's team can do.
The Little Giants will open the home portion of their season this Saturday with two game of a four-game series against Robert Morris-Springfield. The first pitch at Mud Hollow Field is scheduled for noon. The teams will play two seven-inning contests on both Saturday and Sunday.
Wabash and DePauw were scheduled to play Tuesday afternoon in Greencastle, but the game has been postponed due to wet field conditions after the latest rain and snow that pelted the state over the weekend.
Wabash concluded its annual spring break trip with good results. The Little Giants finished 3-3 overall with two games on the schedule canceled because of rain. Freshman Tanner Coggins leads the team with a .400 batting average, collecting 12 hits in his first nine games. Juniors Jake Thomas and Matt Dodaro are right behind with averages over the .350 mark. Dodaro is riding an eight-game hitting streak headed into this weekend's four-game series. Senior Shaun Rico has 10 hits, 11 RBIs, and a .345 average in eight games, including a team-high two home runs.
Mike Korfhagen, Keegan Leckrone, and Brian Van Duyn each have earned victories on the mound for Wabash. Joey Niezer has pitched well despite an 0-3 record. His 2.93 ERA leads the team, as does his .192 opponents' batting average.
Wabash lost 5-1 to Rhodes College on Saturday, one day before the Lynx handed ninth-ranked Marietta (the 2006 Division III National champions) a 10-5 defeat. The Little Giants also played some of the top teams in the Texas area during their spring break trip after opening the season in late February with three games at Guilford College in North Carolina. (View photos from the Wabash spring break trip in photo albums number 1 and number 2.)
The Little Giants play host to DePauw on Wednesday, March 19 at 4 p.m. before beginning the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of the schedule with a four-game series at Ohio Wesleyan University beginning March 21.
Photos - (top left) Freshman Tanner Coggins has come out of the gates swinging, hitting .400 in his first nine games at Wabash.
(bottom right) Joey Niezer may be 0-3, but opponents have had a tough time figuring out the junior with his 2.93 ERA.
Photos by Curt Coggins.