Junior pitcher Tyler Vaske tossed his second complete game shutout of the season in Denison's 2-0 victory in game one of a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader with Wittenberg on Saturday.  The Tigers salvaged the split with a 3-1 win in the nightcap.

In the opener, Vaske scattered five hits, issued two free passes and struck out a pair en route to his team-leading fourth win of the season.  In three of the seven frames, the junior hurler faced the minimum number of batters after inducing double-play balls in the second and third innings, and retiring the side in order in the seventh.

The Big Red broke up the pitchers duel with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Senior Kevin Teague led the frame off with a base hit through the left side of the infield.  With one down, rookie shortstop Jeremy Tirado dropped a double down the right field line to put runners in scoring position.  Tim Duxbury followed Tirado's extra base knock with a sacrifice fly to left that scored pinch runner Drew Rice from third.  Junior Evan Nicholson continued the hit parade with a bloop single to short left that scored Tirado from second base.

Nicholson, Teague, Justin Vaske, Tirado and Duxbury represented the five DU hits.  Tirado had the only extra base hit of the ball game, while Duxbury stole one base.  The Tigers' Jonathan Long suffered the loss after allowing two runs on five hits in six innings of work.

Wittenberg went ahead 1-0 in the second inning of game two thanks to an RBI ground out by David Moore.  The Big Red broke through to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.  With two outs, senior Matt Forgatch started the rally by drawing a base-on-balls.  Fellow senior Peter Krieger reached on an infield hit to third, while pinch hitter Andrew Mahle drew another walk.  With the bases juiced, pinch hitter Danny Kraus dropped a picture-perfect bunt down the third base line that allowed Forgatch to cross the dish.

The Tigers regained the lead in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly to right by Grant Goodwin that scored Graham Wolff.  Wittenberg added an insurance run in the seventh on another SAC fly to left that plated Moore.

Senior Nick Smith took the loss after surrendering three runs (two earned) on eight hits in 6.2 innings.  Tiger starter Jim Clement got the no decision after pitching four scoreless frames with three Ks and five walks.  Reliever Sam Clement improved to 2-0 on the year after giving up one run on two hits in two innings, while closer Matt Rupert secured his seventh save of 2011.

Sophomore Kyle Clemmenson, Krieger, Kraus and Vaske all logged a hit for DU.  Moore went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and run to pace the Wittenberg attack.

Denison moves to 14-15 overall and 6-4 in the NCAC, while Wittenberg stands at 16-11 and 6-2 in the league.  The Big Red return to action on Sunday (April 10) when they travel to Oberlin College for a conference doubleheader with the Yeomen.  First pitch for game one is slated for 1 p.m.