Wittenberg And Ohio Wesleyan Split Season-Opening NCAC Doubleheader

DELAWARE, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers were on the brink and fought back on Thursday, salvaging a doubleheader split in dramatic fashion against rival and defending North Coast Athletic Conference West Division champion Ohio Wesleyan. After falling 2-1 in the opener, Wittenberg rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-5 victory in Game 2 and earn a much-needed split to open the 2005 NCAC West campaign.

The split left the Tigers with an overall record of 8-6 and snapped a string of four losses in five games. Ohio Wesleyan fell to 11-3 overall. Both teams, obviously, are 1-1 in the NCAC West with another doubleheader slated for noon Saturday on OWU's home field.

In the opener, senior Kurt Hartfelder threw an excellent game on the mound, going the distance by scattering four hits and one walk. But Ohio Wesleyan took advantage of the few baserunners it had, pushing across single runs in the second and fifth innings to eke out the victory. It was Wittenberg's fourth one-run loss already in the 2005 season.

Wittenberg left seven runners on base in the game, compared to just three for the Battling Bishops. Ohio Wesleyan's Michael Krieger took the measure of the Tigers, limiting them to six hits and one walk to pick up the victory. Wittenberg's lone run came in the top of the second inning as junior Brian Hampp doubled with one out and junior Justin McCulla brought him in with a two-out single. It was the Tigers' lone base hit with runners in scoring position in the game.

In the nightcap, things were looking bleak for the Tigers, who have a history of near misses against the perennial powerhouse Bishops. But on this day, it was freshman Tyler Curlis who played the role of hero, both at the plate and on the mound.

Curlis moved from center field to the mound in relief of junior Jason Holmberg in the third inning and gave up another run-scoring hit that made the score 5-2 in favor of Ohio Wesleyan. But from that point, Curlis flirted with disaster but kept the Bishops at bay, tossing 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball before senior Ryan Goldschmidt and junior Steve Less closed things out with strong sixth and seventh innings respectively.

Curlis got the pitching win by virtue of his bat, which produced the day's biggest hit. With his team trailing 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning, Curlis capped a three-run rally with a two-out, two-run homer. That followed back-to-back doubles by junior Brad Koopman and McCulla that had closed the gap to one run. Curlis' big fly was the first by a Tiger batter in 2005.

Hampp finished Game 2 with two runs batted in, while Curlis had three. Curlis scored two runs and senior Jon Komperda added a pair of base hits.