A two-out, bases loaded walk in the bottom of the tenth inning gave Wabash a 2-1 win in the first game Sunday afternoon against Ohio Wesleyan before back-to-back two-run innings lifted the Battling Bishops to a 6-4 win in game two. The split victories Sunday led to a North Coast Athletic Conference series split between the Little Giants and OWU.
Wabash starter Mike Korfhagen (left) and OWU pitcher Eric Livingston were locked into a pitcher's dual through eight innings. The two starters each allowed just one run during their time on the mound. Korfhagen gave up four hits and four walks with two strikeouts while also benifiting from two Wabash double plays. Livingston allowed three hits and no walks while striking out 12 of the 28 batters he faced.
(View photos from Sunday's game here and here.)
(View a series of photos of Wabash catcher PJ Tyson making a tag at home plate in the album Out at Home from Kevin Seale on Vimeo.)
Keegan Leckrone came on in relief of Korfhagen, working two nearly perfect innings. The junior did not allow a hit and surrendered one walk while striking out two OWU players.
Andrew Cox took over for Livingston. He faced immediate trouble in the ninth, giving up a one single to Matt Dodaro before hitting John Holm with a pitch. A fielder's choice by Tanner Coggins put runners on the corners with two outs before Cox coaxed David Seibel to fly out to end the inning.
Leckrone set the Bishops down in order in the top of the tenth. PJ Tyson opened the tenth for Wabash with his second hit of the game --- one of only six in the contest for the Little Giants. A sacrifice by Joe Johnson sent Tyson to second. Chris Deig collected his second hit of the game on a tapper to the hole between third and short, forcing Tyson to hold at second. A passed ball moved the runners up 90 feet before leadoff hitter Brian Lares drew a walk.
With the bases loaded and one out, it appeared the Jake Thomas might have been hit by the first pitch by Cox, but the umpires quickly ruled no contact with Thomas took place. The senior drilled a shot toward third that was hauled in by Eric McComas.
Dodaro came to the plate, eventually drawing the walk on a 3-2 pitch to score the game-winner for the Little Giants.
Wabash took a 3-1 lead in game two, scoring a run on a RBI singles by Holm and Seibel in the first before adding a run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Thomas. OWU answered with two runs in the fourth against Little Giant starter Andrew Swart. The freshman surrendered another run in the fifth, finishing the game with a complete game nine-hitter with four earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts.
The Little Giants would score a late run on a Thomas solo homer in the seventh, the first hit for Wabash since the fourth inning. Thomas collected two of the Little Giants' six hits in the game. Lares added a double for the only other extra-base hit. OWU's Kevin Schindler pitched the final four innings of the game to earn his first win of the season, while the loss was Swart's first of his career.
The split of the four-game series puts Wabash at 5-7 for the season and 2-2 in the NCAC Western Division. The Little Giants will play Kenyon College in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday at the Athletic In Action Sports Complex in Xenia, Ohio beginning at 3 p.m.
Photos - (Top left) Mike Korfhagen pitched eight strong innings to keep Wabash even with Ohio Wesleyan before the Little Giants pulled out a 2-1 win in ten innings.
(Bottom right) Third baseman David Seibel tags out an OWU base runner in game one.
Photos by Nancy Coggins.
Box Score - Wabash 2, Ohio Wesleyan 1
Box Score - Ohio Wesleyan 6, Wabash 4