The Denison baseball team clinched its second-consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference West Division title following a doubleheader split with DePauw on Wednesday in Granville. The Big Red won the opener 3-1, but suffered a 3-1 setback in the nightcap.

Wednesday's split secured DU's fourth NCAC West series victory of the season.  With a 12-4 divisional record, DU locked up the top seed in the West and will play the No. 4 team in the East in the NCAC Crossover Series on May 3-4.

In game one, the Big Red grabbed an early lead after scoring a run in the second.  Junior Nick Marsit was awarded a base after being struck by a one-out pitch. After moving to second on a ground out to the pitcher, freshman Tucker Davison dropped a single into right center.  DePauw right fielder Brendon Pashia made a strong throw home, but Marsit slid under the Ryan Allee tag for the game's first run.

The Tigers evened the score in the next half inning when Ryan Grippo touched the dish on a Robbie Stein single through the left side.  The game remained tied until the fifth inning when a Georgie Montes double to right center drove in Conner Madey.  Denison added an insurance run in the sixth on a Davison single that plated Ryan Mulligan.

The three runs put up by the Big Red offense proved to be plenty of support for starting pitcher Connor Murphy who tossed a gem over the course of seven innings.  Murphy scattered six hits and struck out three en route to his fifth victory of the season.  The senior was on point as he induced 14 ground-ball outs compared to just three outs through the air.

Montes was a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Davison had two RBI singles. Mulligan also had two hits and scored a run, while Marsit and Madey accounted for the other two tallies. In addition to his two hits, Mulligan had six assists in the opener.

Denison took a 1-0 lead in game two on an RBI single by Montes that scored Andrew Touhy.  Things were looking good until a miscue in the sixth eventually resulted in a run for the Tigers.  DePauw broke the 1-1 tie with a pair of runs in the eighth inning.  Pinch hitter Lucas Italiano drew a bases-loaded walk to break the tie, while a sacrifice fly to right by Zach Wade scored Pashia.

Junior Kyle Colgain (3-4) suffered the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits. Colgain struck out six and walked four in 7.1 innings of work. Connor Hanrahan tossed 1.2 hitless innings with two strikeouts out of the bullpen. Touhy was 2-for-2 at the plate in the nightcap, while Davison also added two hits.

Denison moves to 16-14 overall and 12-4 in the NCAC West, while the Tigers are now 12-15 and 7-5 in divisional play. The Big Red returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Cleveland, Ohio for a doubleheader with 16th-ranked Case Western Reserve.  Game one of the twinbill is slated for 1 p.m.