Wabash played arch-rival DePauw in two baseball games at Crawfordsville High School Tuesday night. The 23rd-ranked Tigers took advantage of the small ball park, blasting four home runs on the way to 11-3 and 6-2 victories over the Little Giants.
DePauw leadoff hitter Justin Weiner hit the first of the four long balls just to the right of 365 sign in center field to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead at the start of game one. DePauw managed three earned runs against starter Andy Weeks, who suffered his fourth loss of the season. Weeks allowed eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings. Patrick McCarley worked the final two innings, surrendering five runs on five hits and one walk.
The Little Giants were outhit 13-4 in the game. Jake Thomas, Bobby Ritz, Tanner Coggins, and Shaun Rico each had hits. Coggins belted an RBI double down the left field line that scored Ritz in the first. Rico's two-out double in the sixth provided his 33rd RBI of the season, tying him for 12th on the Wabash single season records list.
Wabash fell behind 4-0 in the first inning of game two. The Tigers added two more runs in the third to move in front 6-0 before the Little Giants answered with two in the fifth. Thomas singled for the second time in the game, moving to second on a Ritz fielder's choice and an error by DePauw. A single by Matt Dodaro loaded the bases for Coggins. The freshman's ground ball was thrown away, allowing Thomas and Ritz to score. The Little Giants would threaten often in game two after pounding out six hits, but would strand eight base runners.
Mike Korfhagen started, going three innings while giving up six runs on eight hits. He added three more strikeouts to his season total of 66, the fourth-highest total in Wabash history. Keegan Leckrone ended the Tiger hit parade by allowing only one base runner in three innings with three strikeouts.
Thomas finished the two-game series with three hits to pace Wabash. Adam Auter, Nathan Schrader, Joe Johnson, and Dodaro each had hits in game two to add to the Wabash total of 10 total hits in the two games.
Wabash (17-19) travels to Angola, Indiana Friday afternoon for a 4 p.m. contest at Tri-State University.