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Thiry Leads Wabash to Two Wins over Earlham in Baseball Doubleheader

Freshman pitcher John Thiry (Grand Rapids, MI/Grand Rapids Christian) (photo) picked up a victory in relief in Saturday's first baseball game then pitched a complete-game victory in the second as Wabash College defeated Earlham in both games of the doubleheader. The Little Giants won 11-8 in game one and took a 4-0 victory in game two.

Thiry came in in relief in the seventh inning of game, striking out one of the four batters he faced. He was the pitcher of record when the Little Giants rallied for some two-out heroics in the bottom half of the seventh.

With two out and two runners on and the score tied at 8-8 in the bottom of the seventh, freshman Jared Bogan (Struthers, OH/Struthers) blasted a three-run homer to give Thiry and Wabash the win. Bogan had five RBIs in the game, going 2-for-3 with a double, the home run, and two walks.

Tyler Nance (Celebration, FL/Celebration) added three hits in four at bats. Justin VanderIest (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville) added two rBIs on two hits.

Thiry stayed on the mound in game number two, going the distance to hold Earlham scoreless on four hits. The freshman struck out three and walked three batters in the contest while earning his fourth win of the season. He lowered his team-leading earned run average to 2.22.

Wabash scored a run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Nance, then added three more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Bill Goff (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) and Chris Sides (Brownsburg, IN/Brownsburg) to earn the win.

The Little Giants move to 20-18 for the season, winning 20 games for the first time since 1998. Wabash could not get any help from Wittenberg University, however, to try and earn a spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference post-season tournament. Wabash needed Wittenberg to take three out of the four games this weekend against Ohio Wesleyan to have a chance to play in the annual conference tourney. But Ohio Wesleyan came away with two victories to guarantee Wabash a third-place finish in the NCAC Western Division.

Wabash will conclude its season on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader against Earlham. The first game begins at 1 p.m.