GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 2, 2023) – The No. 15 Denison University baseball team opened up North Coast Athletic Conference action with wins of 10-4 in game one and 11-1 in seven innings in game two over Wabash College on Sunday at the Big Red Baseball Field. The Big Red also finished with nearly the same number of hits (20) as they had runs (21) on the day.
 
Game 1 (No. 15 Denison 10, Wabash 4):

• Leading 1-0 after Eric Colaco singled to center field, stole both second and third base and scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, Denison put up five runs in the bottom of the third inning as Charlie Glennon smacked a three-run home run to left field. Then with two outs in the inning, Josh Bohn singled to center, Owen Wilson walked and Alex Vasquez drew a hit by pitch to load the bases, which was when Kuyper Lashutka came up with a two-run single to center to make it 6-0 Big Red.
• After a run for Wabash in both the top of the fourth and fifth innings, Vasquez manufactured a run in the bottom of the fifth as he got on base with one out thanks to a bunt single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a groundout. Then after a hit by pitch by Erik Sundgren, the double steal was in effect as Vasquez was able to steal home to make it a 7-2 Denison lead.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Noah Leib doubled down the left field line and scored on the ensuing double also to left field by Jake Welsch, who then stole third and scored on a balk.
• Colaco finished 2-for-4 and matched Sundgren with three stolen bases and Vasquez with two runs scored while Leib drew three walks in the game.
• Wabash outhit Denison 12-9 overall, but Charlie Fleming improved to 4-1 on the season with 6.2 innings pitched allowing nine hits, four runs and two walks.
• Patrick Neenan (1.1 innings) and Ryan Starr (1 inning) then kept the Little Giants off the scoreboard and limited them to just three hits the rest of the way.

 
Game 2 (No. 15 Denison 11, Wabash 1):

• Denison again got off to a good start with a run in the first inning as Sundgren led off with a walk, stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on a single up the middle by Glennon.
• The Big Red then put up a six-run bottom of the second inning that featured RBI-doubles by Wilson, Lashutka, Colaco and Welsch.
• Denison added RBI-singles by Wilson in the fourth inning and Welsch in the fifth to go up 9-1.
• Nick Falter (3-0) limited the Little Giants to four hits, one run and one walk to go along with four strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
• Starting with a pickoff for the first out of the fourth inning after surrendering the only one of the game for Wabash, Falter recorded 10 consecutive outs before giving way to Jacob Pendrgraft with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Pendergraft then got back-to-back groundouts to Wilson at short to end the seventh inning and make it 12 straight outs.
• Wabash threw a total of eight pitchers in game two, but they could do nothing from stopping Denison from scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game early. To start off the seventh, Colaco and Glennon both walked and Leib was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Welsch followed with an RBI-single to score Colaco and make it 10-1 before Ari Fierer drew a walk to score the pinch runner Chris Karasinski and finish off the day.
• Welsch finished 4-for-5 with four RBI's while Wilson was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI's. Both players finished with two doubles as well.

 
Records:

• No. 15 Denison improves to 14-4 overall and 2-0 in the NCAC while Wabash falls to 14-9 and 0-2.

 
Next Up: The Big Red will travel to Ohio Wesleyan University for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4, before taking a break from conference action to host Heidelberg University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 5.