GREENCASTLE, Ind. (April 19, 2023) – The No. 14 Denison University baseball team is off to a 10-0 start in North Coast Athletic Conference action following wins of 13-1 in seven innings in game one and then 14-10 in game two at DePauw University on Wednesday afternoon. The Big Red combined for six home runs on the day, including one in each game by
Noah Leib.
With the two wins, Denison also improves to 23-6 overall while DePauw drops to 10-17 and 3-5.
In addition, with his leadoff single in game one, sophomore
Eric Colaco tied Denison's single-season and career record for the longest hitting streak in program history, tying the record of 28 consecutive games set by Will Krushena from February 24 to April 16, 2019. Unfortunately, Colaco finished 0-for-4 with two hit by pitches in game two.
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Game 1 (Denison 13, DePauw 1):
- Denison loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning as Colaco started off the game with a single to shortstop to tie the previous hitting streak record for the Big Red.
- Colaco was followed by back-to-back walks to Charlie Glennon and Leib before scoring on a fielder's choice by Ari Fierer.
- Jake Welsch then singled through the left side to score Glennon and make it 2-0 Big Red before Denison left two runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings.
- Will Rettig (2-0), meanwhile, pitched a 1-2-3 inning in each of the first two innings.
- Then in the third inning, a throwing error by the DePauw shortstop allowed two runners to score to make it 4-0. Then after Owen Wilson advanced to second on the error, he moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring when Alex Vasquez avoided being tagged out in a rundown between first and second base long enough for Wilson to cross the plate to make it 5-0.
- DePauw got a solo home run to right field for its first hit of the game with one out in the third inning, but the Big Red were able to get the run back with a bunt single to third base by Josh Bohn to score Leib in the top of the fourth inning.
- Rittig then tossed another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth before the Big Red added four more runs in the fifth inning, with the final two coming thanks to a two-run home run to right field by Leib.
- Cameron Brickley then homered to left field in the sixth inning before Rettig's fourth 1-2-3 inning of the game in the bottom half.
- Rettig allowed four hits, one run and no walks while striking out five and earning his first-career complete game victory.
- At the plate, Colaco was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, three walks and a double while Brickley was 2-for-2 with a home run, Wilson was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and Leib was 1-for-2 with three walks, three RBI's, two runs scored and a home run.
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Game 2 (Denison 14, DePauw 10):
- Denison again scored in the first inning as a dropped fly ball in center field with two outs allowed Glennon to score all the way from first base.
- Tied 1-1 in the third inning, Glennon led off with a walk before Leib smashed his second two-run home run of the day, again to right field.
- DePauw then walked the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the fourth inning before a hit by pitch by Colaco made it 4-1. A wild pitch then made it 5-1 before an RBI-groundout by Leib made it 6-1 and another wild pitch on a four-pitch walk to Fierer made it 7-1.
- Denison had seven runs on just two hits through the first four innings.
- Meanwhile, Denison's starting pitcher, George Viebrock (5-2), tossed a 1-2-3 inning in both the second and third innings and finished with five innings pitched allowing three hits, one run and one walk while striking out six batters.
- In the top of the seventh inning, Denison was the beneficiary of a three home run inning as Bohn led off with a solo shot to left field before a pair of two-out home runs, first a three-run blast to left field by Glennon and then a two-run homer to left center field by Fierer.
- DePauw tried to rally with a two-out, two run double in the seventh inning followed by a six-hit, six-run bottom of the eighth inning that, like Denison had in the seventh, featured a three-run home run and a two-run home run, both with two outs, to make it 14-10.
- Fierer came in to pitch and got a swinging strikeout for final out of the eighth inning before erasing a leadoff single with a 4-6-3 double play in the ninth and then ending the game with a lineout to first base.
- Welsch was the lone Denison hitter was two hits (2-for-6) in game two as the Big Red drew 12 walks as a team and were led by Brickley and Wilson both with three free passes.
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Next Up: Next up, Denison takes on Franklin College starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, in a neutral-site contest at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Then, Denison will play at Hiram College starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 22.
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