Wittenberg Beats Thomas More In Slugfest
Some baseball games are all about finesse, but the Wittenberg Tigers and Thomas More Saints threw style to the wind in an error- and run-filled slugfest on Tuesday night.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Some baseball games are all about finesse, but the Wittenberg Tigers and Thomas More Saints threw style to the wind in an error- and run-filled slugfest on Tuesday night. The two teams went blow-for-blow, but the Tigers outlasted the Saints last jab in the seventh to pick up the win by a score of 11-8.
Wittenberg tore threw the Saints pitching staff, creating a revolving door on the mound that in total saw five different pitchers for Thomas More. The game started quietly enough, with a scoreless first inning and 1-1 tie after the second. Wittenberg would build what seemed like a secure 8-3 lead through four, but a seventh inning Saint grand slam threw the game back into the washer. The Tigers responded with a three-run side to ensure a victory, and absorbed one more run in the eighth before quieting the opposition's bats in the ninth and walking away from a brutal back-and-forth match.
Each team posted four errors in the game, most of which were costly for both sides, and both sides finished with six earned runs, a statistic which puts the price tag on those errors into sharp relief.
For the Tigers, sophomore Joel Assenheimer (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) picked up the win on the strength of five innings of three run, one earned run, two strikeout and zero walk baseball. Freshman Zach Spring (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty)took the mound in the sixth inning and worked his way past a Tiger fielding error to keep the Saints quiet, but slipped in the seventh inning and gave up four runs before registering an out, when he was replaced by sophomore Darin Mumaw (Fort Loramie, Ohio/Fort Loramie). Mumaw went three innings, picking up the save while allowing one earned run and striking out four.
Leading the way for the Tigers from the plate was junior third baseman Jacob Michael (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty), who smacked a grand slam over the left field wall in the fourth. Those runs looked like they would seal the deal, before Thomas More struck back with four of their own in the seventh. But senior shortstopJoel Puthoff (Houston, Ohio/Russia) wasn't satisfied with leaving any doubt. In the bottom of the same inning, Puthoff drilled a three-run homer to add some insurance.
The Tigers will need all the confidence they can get heading into a showdown with backyard neighbor and NCAA Division I team the University of Dayton at Time Warner Cable Stadium in Dayton on Wednesday, with a scheduled start time of 4 p.m.