Freshman Brian Van Duyn scattered eight hits over six innings and reliever Keegan Leckrone picked up his second save in the Little Giants' 2-1 win over Denison in game two Sunday afternoon at Mud Hollow Field. Wabash lost game one 4-0 to split the overall North Coast Athletic Conference West Division series with the Big Red at two games a piece.
Van Duyn did not issue a walk and struck out three of the 26 batters he faced while earning his third win of the season. The only run of the game by Denison came in the sixth inning when Park Smith doubled to center, scoring two batters later on a single by Kevin Teague. Van Duyn got out of the inning by when pinch hitter Len Mills grounded back to the mound, followed by a strikeout by Zach Huttie. Alex Horn ended the inning and the Big Red threat with a flyout to center. (View photos from game two here.)
Leckrone came on in the seventh inning, inducing three pop ups on the infield. One fell for an error with two outs, but Smith ended the game with a ground out to second to give Wabash the win. Leckrone stretched his consective inning streak without allowing a hit to 11.
Wabash took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single and stolen base by PJ Tyson. A ground ball by Jake Thomas was mishandled by Huttie, allowing Tyson to race home with the first run of the game. The Little Giants added the eventual game-winner in the fifth on an RBI single by Thomas to score Nathan Schrader from third.
The Little Giants fell behind 2-0 in the first inning of game one, thanks to a walk, an error, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single by the Big Red. Wabash out hit Denison 7-4 in the game, but stranded eight base runners. Joey Niezer suffered his fourth loss of the year, the third in which the Little Giants have been unable to score a run in support of the junior righthander. (View photos from game one here.)
Thomas and Tyson led Wabash at the plate, each finishing with three hits in the two games. Thomas hit .417 for the series, collecting five hits in 12 at bats with two RBIs.
Wabash improves to 15-12 for the season and 5-3 against NCAC West opponents. Denison holds its division lead with an 8-4 conference mark and a 17-8 overall record.
The Little Giants play a non-conference game Thursday evening against North Central College at the US Steel Yard in Gary, Indiana. First pitch at the minor league home of the Gary Southshore Railcats is set for 7 p.m. CDT (8 p.m. Eastern time). Admission is free of charge.
Boxscore - Game one (Denison 4, Wabash 0)
Boxscore - Game two (Wabash 2, Denison 1)