For the second weekend in a row the long ball gave the Wabash baseball team a 3-1 series victory.
Matt Dodaro's two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning powered Wabash to a 6-5 victory in the Little Giants' second game Sunday afternoon against Case Western Reserve University. Dodaro hit a solo shot in team's 8-6 win in game one against the Spartans.
Click here to see photos from Sunday's games.
The junior shortstop hit .400 over the four-game series, including two 2-for-4 efforts on Sunday. He added four RBIs and 12 total bases to his career totals. Dodaro is now ninth in Wabash history with 208 total bases and is tied for 11th with 76 career RBIs.
Wabash jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the final game of the series thanks to an RBI single by Tanner Coggins in the first inning. Joe Johnson (pictured) led off the second inning with a double, scoring on a ground ball from Nathan Schrader to put Wabash up 2-1. The Ltitle Giants added another run on an RBI single from Bobby Ritz before the Spartans added two in the third and another two in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead.
The Little Giants trimmed the lead to one run in the fifth when Ritz started the inning with a single. He moved to third on a ground out by Dodaro and a single by Coggins before scoring when Shaun Rico lifted a single to left field. Jake Thomas started the final inning off with a single to center before Dodaro pounded a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence for the game-winning hit.
Keegan Leckrone earned the win in relief of freshman Brian Van Duyn. Leckrone threw three innings of hitless baseball, walking one and striking out five. Van Duyn worked four innings with eight hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.
Wabash batted around in the first inning of game one Sunday, scoring four runs behind a two-run single by Rico, an RBI single from Dave Seibel, and a ground ball RBI from Coggins. Case answered with a six-run inning in the third before PJ Tyson's hit off the glove of the pitcher scored Seibel after he doubled in the bottom of the third to cut into the Spartans' lead.
The Little Giants took the lead in the fourth. Seibel hit into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, scoring Dodaro from third. Coggins came home to score the eventuall game-winning run on the play when the throw from short on the attempted double play sailed wide of first for an error.
Dodaro's homer in the fifth gave Wabash an insurance run for the 8-6 win.
Patrick McCarley improved to 2-0 after throwing four innings in relief of starter Joey Niezer. McCarley did not surrender a hit while walking two and striking out three.
Johnson, Ritz, and Seibel each hit .500 for the weekend. Seibel added three RBIs while going 4-for-8. Ritz was 7-for-14 in four games, while Johnson went 2-for-4 in one start and one pinch-hitting effort.
Wabash (13-9) will travel to Anderson Wednesday afternoon for a single nine-inning game agains the Ravens.