Sophomore PJ Tyson smashed a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Wabash an 8-5 victory in the second game of a doubleheader against North Central College. The Little Giants lost game one at the U.S. Steel Yard in Gary, Indiana 10-5 for a split against the Cardinals.
Nathan Schrader opened the final inning of the contest with a walk, followed by a Jake Thomas hit batsman. Matt Dodaro sacrificed the pair to second and third for John Holm, who slapped a single past the Cardinals' first baseman to score the tying runs in a 5-5 contest. Holm advanced to second on a potential play at the plate, leaving a base open for David Seibel. North Central elected to put Seibel on with an intentional walk, setting up the Tyson heroics.
The regular starting catcher for Wabash, Tyson earned a rest after handling the duties behind the plate in game one. Stepping to the plate for first baseman Tanner Coggins, Tyson launched a blast over the left field fence to give the Little Giants the victory.
Wabash fell behind 3-0 before Schrader scored in the third on an RBI single by Dodaro, who came home two batters later on a Seibel single. North Central added a run in the fourth and another in the fifth before the Little Giants manufactured a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Schrader hustled out a double on a popup that landed safely in short center field. He moved to third on a flyout by Thomas, then scored on a sacrifice line shot by Dodaro to right on a spectacular slide around the tag of catcher Dustin Gilbreth to keep the lead at 5-3.
Keegan Leckrone held the Cardinals in check in the top of the seventh prior to the five-inning rally in the bottom of the inning to earn his sixth win of the season. Freshman Pete Schmith gave up four earned runs in 4-1/3 innings on five hits with six walks and strikeout. Brian Van Duyn gave up an unearned run in the fifth on one hit with one K. Andrew Swart held the Cardinals to one hit in the seventh while striking out one batter. Leckrone had two walks and a stikeout in the final inning.
The Little Giants gave up four runs in the first inning of game one and eventually trailed 8-0 before scoring their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Deig hit a one-out double down the left field line, scoring two batters later on a Dodaro sacrifice fly.
Wabash exploded for four runs in the last inning of the opening contest in an attempt to rally from a 10-1 deficit. Tyson drew a lead-off walk before moving to second on a wild pitch. Thomas' single brought Tyson home just ahead of a monster two-run homer by Dodaro to trim the lead to 10-4. Holm tripled in the next at-bat, adding the final run of the game on a ground-ball out by Seibel.
Craig Austin took the loss, working three innings of eight-hit baseball. He gave up four earned runs along with three walks. Jeff Soller surrendered three runs on three hits with a walk and strikeout over two innings on the mound. Logan Frederick closed the game out with two hits and two runs in the final two innings.
Thomas collected five hits over the two games, including a 4-for-4 performance in game one, to move past Dodaro for first place on the Wabash career hits list. Dodaro finished with three hits for the day to trail Thomas by one on the all-time list with 178.The senior shortstop also had five RBI to pace the Little Giants.
Wabash (17-15) finishes the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of its schedule this weekend with two re-scheduled series from earlier in the year. The Little Giants travel to Wittenberg for a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday before returning to Mud Hollow Field Sunday for two games against Earlham College beginning at 1 p.m.