Wabash battled to a 6-5 victory in game Saturday afternoon at Ohio Wesleyan in the opening game of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Western Division baseball season. The Little Giants nearly erased a four-run advantage by OWU in game two before losing 8-7 in the nightcap.
The Little Giants trailed 8-4 to Battling Bishops in Saturday's finale before scoring three runs in the sixth. Wabash put the leadoff batter aboard in the seventh inning when Brian Lares ripped a double to left-center field. Wabash would eventually put runners on first and second when John Pennington reached on an error, but would go down in order without getting the tying to run to third to suffer the loss.
Wabash took a 2-0 lead in game one when Pennington hit a shot to right center for a one-out double in the third inning. Tanner Coggins hit a ground ball to third that ended in a two-base throwing error to bring home Pennington with the first run of the game. Coggins scored two batters later when Montana Timmons singled to left.
The Battling Bishops answered with four runs in the bottom of the third, started by two walks to the first two batters of the inning. Wabash picked up a run in the fourth when David Seibel reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on a single by PJ Tyson, then scored on a Lares sacrifice bunt. OWU responded with a run of its own to hold a 5-3 lead heading into the fifth inning.
Wabash started a two-out rally in fifth when Timmons drew a walk. Joe Johnson extended the inning when he reached base on an error by the Bishops' shortstop. A double off the centerfield wall by Chris Deig scored Timmons and Johnson. Deig came home one batter later when Seibel's hit fell for a single to left center, giving Wabash a 6-5 lead.
Starter Keegan Leckrone worked into the seventh before giving way to reliever Luke Zinsmaster with two runners on and none out. After a ground out and walk loaded the bases with one out, Zinsmaster retired the next two batters with infield outs to pick up his second save of the year. Leckrone threw six innings of nine-hit baseball while allowing five earned runs with five walks and three strikeouts to even his overall record at 1-1.
The Little Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second game behind an RBI single by John Holm and a two-run homer by Timmons. However, Wabash surrendered two runs in the second before OWU hit two home runs in the third --- a three-run shot followed by a two-run blast --- to move in front 7-4. The Bishops added one more run in the fourth before Wabash mounted a rally in the sixth.
Coggins opened the sixth inning with his second home run of the season to cut the lead to three. Holm was hit by a pitch, then Timmons picked up a double to send Holm to third. A single by Deig brought Holm and TImmons to the plate, putting Wabash down by a run. The Lares lead-off double gave the Little Giants a chance to force a possibility of extra innings, but Bishops' reliever Robbie Shane retired three of the five batters he faced to earn his first save in relief of Mason Farr.
Brian Van Duyn was unable to make it out of the third inning, allowing six earned runs on eight hits with four walks in 2-2/3 innings. Pete Schmith scattered five hits over 3-1/3 innings with one earned run and two strikeouts.
Timmons, Pennington, and Deig each finished with three hits to pace the Wabash offense. Diege added seven RBI while Timmons had three along with seven total bases.
Wabash (5-10, 1-1 NCAC West) and Ohio Wesleyan (4-7, 1-1 NCAC West) will conclude the four-game conference series Sunday afternoon with two more seven-inning contests.
Game one - Wabash 6, OWU 5 (box score)
Game two - OWU 8, Wabash 7 (box score)