Kevin Tolle, 13’, catches a throw as a Wabash player runs towards home plate. (Photo by Kate Causbie/The Torch)
The Tiger baseball team is back on the winning track, and making a push to be one of the top teams in the NCAC West after another week of games.
After dropping four games on the road to DePauw last weekend, the Tigers found their winning stride against the Wilmington College on Wednesday defeating the Quakers by a whopping 28-5 margin. This would go down as one of the biggest wins in Tiger baseball history, the only larger defeat coming in 1997 over Thomas Moore. The game totaled many season highs in the offensive categories such as 57 at bats and 27 RBIs. Fourteen different Tigers recorded hits against the Quakers, four of them being from freshman centerfielder Brandon Reaman. Also, contributing to the Tiger offense was junior Graham Wolff and sophomore Brandon Jordan.
“It was a quality win going into our series with Wabash,” said Reaman.
The momentum from such a big win is what the Tigers were looking for, going into such a big weekend of NCAC play against Wabash. The Little Giants controlled the first of the two games on Saturday, until the Tigers plated 5 runs in the bottom of the seventh to come back and win 5-4. Leading off the rally was sophomore Brandon Jordan with a leadoff single, followed by a monstrous double in the gap by sophomore Tyler Grau, followed up with another single by Dave Moore and Graham Wolff. Senior Matt Hampp doubled for junior Grant Goodwin to come up and get the walk off single down the right field line. Game two of the Saturday series was won with much more ease as the Tigers dug themselves out of a 2-0 hole and went to take the victory 9-6.
“I have finally started seeing the ball well, and I’m putting it in play,” said sophomore Alex Lochard.
As the week ended on Sunday with a split with the Little Giants, the Tigers taking game one with a complete game out of starting pitcher from senior Matt Rupert. It was a different story as the offense struggled to support starting pitcher Andy Sharek, but a few late rally’s brought the Tigers close enough only to fall 12-8.
(AJ Meyer / meyera@wittenberg.edu)
