Pitchers Keegan Leckrone and Andrew Swart combined for two complete-game victories on the mound for Wabash Saturday afternoon over Wittenberg. The Little Giants pounded out 23 hits for wins of 7-1 and 8-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference action at Mud Hollow Field.
Leckrone picked up his second win of the season, scattering six hits over seven innings while allowing one earned run. He stuck out five Wittenberg batters while walking two. Swart earned his second win in a six-hit shutout. The sophomore right-hander struck out eight with only one walk.
The Little Giants proved plenty of offensive support for their two starters. Wabash took a 2-0 lead in game one off an RBI double by John Holm and run-scoring single by Montana Timmons. Two more runs crossed the plate in the second inning off RBI singles by John Pennington and Holm. Tanner Coggins brought home a run in the fourth with one of his two singles. Joe Johnson's sacrifice fly in the fifth brough home Chris Deig before the Little Giants added the final run of the game in sixth. A single by Coggins came just ahead of another Holm double for the seventh run of the game.
Holm finished with three hits and three RBI in four trips to the plate. Coggins and Deig were both 2-for-3 in the contest.
Wabash scored two early runs in the second game when Holm added his fourth RBI of the day with a single to score Brian Lares, who led off the first inning with a walk. Timmons picked up an RBI single in the inning to score Coggins. Holm launched his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot in the third to put Wabash up 3-0. Lares brought home two runs in the fourth with a single before scoring himself on a sacrifice fly by Pennington.
The final runs of the game were produced by a two-run homer in the fifth inning off the bat of junior David Seibel --- the first home run of his career. Seibel, Lares, and Holm each finished with two RBI for the game, giving Holm five for the day. Holm, Timmons, and Deig each had two hits.
Swart got out of a two-out, bases-loaded situation in the third with a ground ball and survived a first-and-third with one out in the sixth to preserve the shutout --- his first in a Wabash uniform and his fifth career complete game.
The victories put the Little Giants at the top of the NCAC Western division standings with a 5-1 mark while improving to 9-11 overall. The Tigers fall to 8-7 with a record of 4-2 in the NCAC. The two teams will try to complete the series with two seven-inning games Sunday afternoon at Mud Hollow beginning at noon. The preliminary forecast calls for rain throughout Sunday.
Game one - Wabash 7, Wittenberg 1 (box score)
Game two - Wabash 8, Wittenberg 0 (box score)