Wednesday night’s road trip to Illinois Wesleyan was one the Wabash baseball team would like to forget. The Little Giants managed just three hits while striking out 13 times in an 8-0 loss to the Titans.
Dave Seibel broke up IWU pitcher Brent Kulavic’s streak of five consecutive strike outs with a leadoff double to right center in the third inning. The Little Giants could not move the freshman off second base, stranding him in a 6-0 contest after the Titans had scored two runs in the first inning and two more in the second.
The Little Giants threatened once again trailing 7-0 in the eighth. Joel Bustamante slapped a two-out single down the right field line, moving to second after Nathan Schrader’s ground ball to third was bobbled by the IWU infielder. Alan Griggs loaded the bases with a ground ball through the left side of the infield. Bobby Ritz battled in the next at bat, fouling off pitch after pitch before running the count full. His ground ball down the third base line was fielded cleanly by the Titans this time, ending the inning for Wabash.
Keegan Leckrone took the loss, giving up two earned runs in three innings. Wabash pitchers Leckrone, Patrick McCarley, Brian Van Duyn, Joey Niezer, Andy Weeks, and Mike Korfhagen combined for nine strikeouts in eight innings. Niezer had three strike outs, while Van Duyn struck out two.
Wabash (10-8) returns to action Saturday afternoon at noon at Mud Hollow Field against Case Western Reserve. The teams will play two seven-inning games Saturday and will play twice again on Sunday.