Wabash senior Matt Dodaro became the all-time hits leader in Wabash baseball history, collecting two hits in the Little Giants' sweep against Robert Morris College from Springfield, Illinois. Wabash won game one 15-1 before capturing a 5-4 win in game two.
Dodaro slammed a double in game one to tie Jay Dee Flynn '00 at 166 career hits. Dodaro broke the tie with a shot off pitcher Kyle Forshee's glove in game two.
Matt Dodaro and Head Coach Cory Stevens on setting the career hits record
The big numbers came from from freshman Chris Deig. The rookie outfielder went 5-for-7 at the plate with seven RBIs. He was 2-for-3 in the first game with four RBIs before bringing home three more in game two with his 3-for-4 performance. (View photos from the Little Giant's game one win over the Eagles here.)
Wabash raced out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning of game one on a bases-loaded single by Deig for two runs, with a third scoring when the ball was misplayed in center field. A two-out single by David Seibel scored Deig from second.
The Eagles picked up an unearned run in the fourth off sophomore Brian Van Duyn, who held RMC to three hits and five walks with six strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. Wabash responded with two in the fifth when senior Jake Thomas drilled a homer to right to score Deig. A nine-run sixth inning for the Little Giants blew the game open.
Thomas went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the first game. Tanner Coggins added two hits and three RBIs, including a two-run triple in the sixth.
The Little Giants managed just eight hits in game two after piling up 12 in the first contest. Wabash struck first with a two-run first inning. PJ Tyson reached on an error, stole second, then scored on a single from Deig. Deig came around to score on a double-play ball by Coggins with the bases loaded.
Stevens on Chris Deig's move to second in the batting order
A two-run double by Tyson in the second put Wabash in front 3-0 before the Little Giants scored a key insurance run in the fourth. Tyson came home after reaching on a single and stealing second when Deig singled back up the middle.
Freshman Andrew Swart held the Eagles' offense in check through the first four innings before surrendering two earned and one unearned run in the fifth. Swart walked two and struck out three with six hits.
Wabash would get a run back for the rookie in the sixth --- scoring what would prove to be the game-winning run --- when Deig singled for the third time in the game to score Brian Lares after a walk and stolen base.
Deig, Tyson, Dodaro, and John Holm accounted for all eight of the Little Giants' hits. Tyson and Holm each had two hits to join Deig with three and Dodaro's record-setting single. Swart improved to 2-1 with the win, while Keegan Leckrone worked the seventh inning, allowing one unearned run while picking up his first save of the season.
Wabash (8-12) will travel to Butler University Tuesday afternoon. The Little Giants' scheduled doubleheader against St. Xavier University Sunday afternoon at Mud Hollow Field has been cancelled due to impending bad weather.