2021 Tiger Baseball Season Preview
After starting off the 2020 season with a 7-3 record, the Wittenberg Tigers look to start strong once again this year. The Tigers open play traveling to NCAA Division I Akron University on March 10th at 3:00PM.
Patrick Kenny and Ryan Probst will be returning this season as graduate students to finish what they started from a year ago. Kenny led the team with 40 at bats and tallying 16 hits during the 10 games he started. Kenny also logged 4 extra-base hits, two doubles, and a triple. Kenny scored 16 runs while batting in 10. Kenny ranked 1st in the NCAC last season for runs scored. Probst, a 4-year starter with over 100 games played and 346 at-bats will look to lead the red and white to their first conference tournament in his time at Wittenberg. He has maintained a .289 batting average while driving in 70 runs on 100 hits and crossing home 65 times himself.
The Tigers will be led off the bump by Cole Weaver and Tanner Griggs. Weaver, a junior, ranked top 10 in the NCAC in Earned Run Average (ERA) and strikeouts as a pitcher last season. He posted a 1-1 record last season striking out 13 batters and posting a 1.50 ERA across 12 innings. Griggs has posted a 7-7 record in his three seasons as a Tiger. He has fanned 102 batters while maintaining a 4.92 ERA across 109 innings pitched. Griggs will look to continue the successful start he had last season posting a 2-0 record across 3 starts.
Other returners include Mason Davis, Jack Seifert, and Jack Hollinshead. Davis led the NCAC in home runs and was top 5 in RBI's during the beginning of the 2020 season. In his career at Wittenberg, Davis has 171 at-bats and has been able to knock in 37 runs off 52 hits, sending 6 of those over the fence for home runs. Seifert is returning as a 3-year starter for the red and white. He has posted a .316 batting average across his career while driving in 56 runs on 91 hits and crossing home 54 times. Hollinshead looks to continue his power hitting in the 2021 season. He has logged 88 hits, 8 of them being home runs, and tallying 65 RBI's for a batting average of .341.
Two underclassmen looking to step up into big roles this season include Nick Cunningham and Dylan Jackson. Both sophomores come into this season looking to fill big shoes. Cunningham looks to add to the bullpen for the Red and White. Last season he started one game but posted a 2-1 record striking out 12 batters and posting a 2.79 ERA across 9 innings. Jackson was off to a hot start last season as he posted a .435 batting average in the first 8 games while driving in 5 runs off 10 hits and crossing home 5 times for the Tigers.