Junior Mike Mack (Butler, IN/Eastside) (photo) led the Little Giant hit parade, going 4-for-4, scoring three runs while tallying seven RBIs. Mack had two RBI doubles, and added a final run-scoring play when he was hit by a pitch in his final at bat. Sophomore Bill Goff (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) continued to punish the baseball, going 4-for-5 from the plate with six RBIs. He also pounded two doubles in the contest, giving Wabash its second consecutive win and its fifth out of eight games in Florida.
The Little Giants tagged St. Joseph’s with four runs in the first inning, never trailing again in the contest. St. Joseph’s answered with two runs in its half of the first inning, but was shutout over the next three innings. Wabash, meanwhile, found no problem adding to its scoring totals, crossing the plate twice in the second inning before adding a six-spot in the fourth.
Wabash broke the game open in the fourth when Tyler Nance (Celebration, FL/Celebration) led off the inning with a single to left. Freshman Nick George (West Lafayette, IN/Harrison) followed suit with another single to left, followed by a bunt-single by senior Jake Martin (Rushville, IN/Rushville). All three came around to score when Goff blasted his first double of the contest to the left-center field fence. A walk to Nick Rico (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista), followed by a single by Danny Schubert (Lebanon, IL/Lebanon) loaded the bases once again. That’s when Mack hammered his two-run double down the right field line. A single by Jared Bogan (Struthers, OH/Struthers) put two runners on base for the Little Giants. Mack came home to score as Wabash batted around in the inning when Jared Martin (Rosedale, IN/Riverton Parke) hit the third double of the inning for the Little Giants.
Wabash scored in six of the eight innings played before the game was called due to a 3 hour, 15-minute time limit. The Little Giants added another six-run inning in their half of the eighth to finish the contest.
Two freshmen pitchers took the Little Giants to their seventh win of the season. Travis Moore (Crawfordsville, IN/Crawfordsville) earned his second win in three starts this season, throwing for 5-1/3 innings. He finished the game with seven strikeouts. Todd Dodson (Franklin, IN/Franklin Community) saw his first action of the season, finishing the contest for Moore to earn his first college save. Dodson threw 2-1/3 innings, striking out five while allowing only three hits and one run.
Several Wabash players, in addition to Mack and Goff, had multiple hits in the contest. Bogan had his first multi-hit game of his college career, garnering three hits in five at bats. Nance, George, Jake Martin, and Schubert each added two hits in the game.
The Little Giants will have little time to savor their hard-hitting victory over an NAIA powerhouse like St. Joseph’s. Wabash plays the College of Mount St. Josephs, a former Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent, on Friday morning at 9 a.m. The Little Giants will hope to add another win to their 7-4 season record on Friday before finishing their Florida trip on Sunday with a doubleheader against Clarkson College.