GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 29, 2023) – In a battle between the last two teams in the North Coast Athletic Conference without a loss in conference action this season, the No. 13 Denison University baseball team swept Wittenberg University by scores of 9-2 in game one and then 16-6 in seven innings in game two during Senior Day on Saturday at the Big Red Baseball Field. With the two wins, Denison clinches the No. 1 seed for the NCAC Tournament and at least a share NCAC regular-season title.
 
Game 1 (Denison 9, Wittenberg 2):

• Charlie Fleming (8-1) dominated and earned his second consecutive complete game victory. Fleming tossed three 1-2-3 innings and finished with eight hits, two runs and no walks allowed while striking out 10.
• Denison scored first on a wild pitch in the second inning and got back-to-back sacrifice flies to right field by Eric Colaco and Charlie Glennon to make it 3-0 in the fifth inning.
• In the sixth inning, an error by the Tigers' third baseman on a double steal by Ari Fierer and Josh Bohn allowed Fierer to score before Owen Wilson followed with a single down the right field line to score Bohn and make it 5-0 Big Red.
• Then after the first run for Wittenberg on back-to-back two-out hits in the top of the eighth inning, Denison's big inning came with a two-out rally of its own in the bottom half. All with two outs, Wilson hit his second RBI-single of the game before a two-run single to right field by Matt McClements and then an RBI-double down the right field line by Colaco.
• Fierer was 2-for-3 with three runs scored while McClements was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI's, Wilson was 2-for-4 with two RBI's, and Jake Welsch was also 2-for-4.

 
Game 2 (Denison 16, Wittenberg 6):

• Denison batted around and put up six runs in the bottom of the first inning on three two-out RBI-hits. The first was a two-run single up the middle by Bohn before Wilson picked up where he left off in game one and sent an RBI-double into the left center field gap. Two batters later, McClements came up big with a bases clearing three-run double to right center field.
• Then in the second inning, Glennon led off with a walk and immediately came around to score on the ensuing RBI-double to right center field by Noah Leib. Two batters later, Leib scored on another two-out RBI-single by Bohn to make it 8-0 Big Red.
• Wittenberg got on the board against Nick Falter (6-0) with a leadoff single and a two-out RBI-single in the third inning, and then the Tigers made it just a three-run game (8-5) after three more two-out RBI-hits in a four-run, five-hit top of the fifth inning.
• Denison got two runs back thanks to back-to-back bases-loaded walks by Leib and Fierer in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
• Then after a 1-2-3 top of the sixth inning by the new Big Red pitcher, Will Rettig, Denison loaded the bases after back-to-back hit by pitches from Alex Vasquez and McClements in the bottom half, setting up an RBI on a fielder's choice by Colaco to make it 11-5.
• Denison would then score five runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the game.
• The final half inning started with a walk to Fierer before Welsch followed with an RBI-triple to left center field and then Bohn followed him with an RBI-single through the left side to make it a 13-6 Denison lead.
• Then after a walk to Wilson, Vasquez came up with an RBI-single to left center to score Bohn before an RBI-walk by pinch hitter Chris Karasinski scored Wilson to make it 15-6.
• The walkoff run by Vasquez to end the game then occurred after an error by the Tigers' second baseman on a groundball off the bat of Leib.
• Bohn was an awesome 4-for-5 with four RBI's and three runs scored while Wilson was 2-for-3 with three runs scored as well and McClements was 2-for-3 with three RBI's.
• On the mound, Falter allowed 11 hits, five runs, two walks and four strikeouts in his five innings while Rettig allowed just one hit, one run, one walk and one strikeout in his two innings to end the game.

 
Senior Day Recap (Stats entering Saturday):

• Josh Bohn is a career .303 hitter who has started 62 of 84 games totaling 72 hits, 49 runs, 45 RBI's, 13 doubles and eight home runs. So far as a senior, he is batting .336 with 36 hits, 22 RBI's, 21 runs, five doubles, four home runs and five stolen bases. As a junior in 2022, Bohn was named to the NCAC All-Tournament Team after homering twice on day two of the NCAC Tournament against Wooster to help send Denison into the championship series. Earlier this season on March 8, Josh was named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week after hitting 3-for-6 with six RBIs, two runs scored and a home run during Denison's two games at the Derby City Classic.
• Cameron Brickley is a career .280 hitter who has started 13 of 39 games totaling 14 hits, 12 runs and nine RBI's. Last week he hit his first-career home run in the sixth inning of a 13-1 game-one win at DePauw on April 19. As a junior in 2022, Brickley hit .368 with seven hits, five RBI's four runs, and was 3-for-3 with three RBI's and a triple in a 12-2 win over DePauw on April 7.
• Andrew Brown has made 13 appearances and has struck out 12 batters in 13 innings. As a sophomore in 2021, Brown made 11 appearances and struck out 11 batters in 9.1 innings while finishing with a 4.82 earned run average. He is a two-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll and was a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee.
• In his two seasons with the Big Red, Ari Fierer has started in 73 of 75 games and has hit .340 with 91 hits, 73 RBI's 59 runs, 23 doubles and six home runs. So far this season, R-e is batting .303 with 30 hits, 29 RBI's, 23 runs, six doubles and four home runs. He has also made 11 appearances on the mound as a senior and has struck out 11 batters in 12.2 innings while recording four saves and sporting a great 0.71 earned run average. Earlier this season during Denison's 25-23 marathon win over Arcadia in Florida, Fierer set a new program record for at bats in a single game with eight and also tied the Denison records of seven RBI's and two home runs in one game. Fierer was also named the NCAC Player of the Week on February 27 of this season after hitting 7-for-10 with five RBI's, four walks, three runs, two stolen bases, a double and a triple during a 3-0 opening weekend for the Big Red at the D3 College Showcase. In his first season with the Big Red in 2022, Fierer was named First-Team All-NCAC and Third-Team All-Region after starting all 46 games between either third base or first base, batting .361 to go along with a team-best 31 walks, and finishing second on the team with 17 doubles. Fierer was a member of both the 2021-22 NCAC Academic Honor Roll, was a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee, and was a 2022-23 Denison Top-50 Scholar-Athlete. At this year's James T. Glerum '82 Top-50 Scholar-Athlete Honors Celebration, Fierer was recognized with the Ted Barclay Top-Five Award, which is given to individuals who represent the Denison athletic department in a positive manner through their ability and scholarship.
• Charlie Fleming has appeared in 35 games in his career with 32 starts, a career 3.68 earned run average, an overall record of 19-6, five complete games, three shutouts and 186 strikeouts in 190.2 total innings. His 19 career wins are tied for the sixth most in program history while his 186 strikeouts place him fifth all-time. So far as a senior, Charlie is 7-1 with a 2.16 earned run average and 57 strikeouts in 50 innings. As a sophomore in the 2021 season, Fleming was named the NCAC Pitcher of the Year and was Second-Team All-Region after finishing the year 71 with a 3.97 earned run average, four complete game and a team-high 65 strikeouts and tossing a complete game shutout against Millikin University in the first game of the regional tournament. Fleming has been named the NCAC Pitcher of the Week three times in his career and twice this season, and will be both a three-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll and Denison Top-50 Scholar-Athlete this year. At this year's James T. Glerum '82 Top-50 Scholar-Athlete Honors Celebration, Fleming was recognized with the Dr. Larry Scheiderer, which recognizes the highest-ranking senior varsity male scholar-athlete, in terms of GPA. He was also a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee and was a 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.
• Charlie Glennon is a career .307 hitter who has started 80 of 88 games. He has collected 90 hits, 81 runs, 75 RBI's, 36 walks, 29 stolen bases, 22 doubles, seven triples and 10 home runs in his career. So far as a season, he is batting .346 with 44 hits, 44 runs, 39 RBI's, 18 steals, 16 walks, 10 doubles, four triples and seven home runs. Earlier this season during Denison's 25-23 marathon win over Arcadia in Florida, Glennon scored a Denison record six runs in one game en route to being named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week. In 2022, Glennon was named First-Team All-NCAC as a catcher after setting a new Denison single-season record with 18 runners caught stealing, starting in 30 games, and hitting .292 with 38 hits, 27 RBI's, 26 runs, 16 walks, 11 steals, 10 doubles, two home run and two triple. He was also named to the 2022 NCAC All-Tournament Team. He was a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2020-21, and was a 2021-22 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee.
• Chris Karasinski has appeared in 22 games and has recorded three hits, three RBI's, and five runs in his career. Last season, Chris made his first-career start and recorded his first-career hit in a 4-3 win over Sewanee on March 14 and brought in his first-career RBI in a 19-5 win at Wabash on May 7.
• As a pitcher, Patrick Neenan has appeared in 25 games in his career and is 6-2 with one save and 27 strikeouts in 34 total innings. As a senior in 2023, Neenan is currently 4-1 with a career-high 19 strikeouts in 14 appearances in 22.1 innings pitched. At the plate, Neenan is a career .295 hitter who has collected 18 hits, 17 runs, 12 RBI's, four doubles and a triple. As a junior in 2022, he hit .313 with 10 hits, eight runs, six walks and five RBI's in 28 appearances. He set new career-highs with four hits and three runs scored while adding a double and a stolen base in a 12-6 win at Wittenberg on April 2 of last year.
• Jacob Pendergraft has appeared in 16 games in two seasons with the Big Red, and has pitched 18 innings while recording 18 strikeouts, one win and a career ERA of 3.00. In 2022, Pendergraft made eight appearances and tossed a total of 14 innings to go along with 13 strikeouts and a great 0.64 earned run average. Pendergraft earned his first career win and stuck out a career-high five batters during a 5-2 win over No. 12 Baldwin Wallace on May 1 of last season, and he pitched two innings in the 2022 Granville Regional Championship series against No. 7 Salisbury on May 23, not allowing a single hit or run while striking out three Sea Gulls. In all, Pendergraft did not allow any runs in his final six games and 10.2 innings pitched in 2022.

 
Records:

• Denison improves to 20 games above .500 at 27-7 overall and is now 14-0 in the NCAC while Wittenberg fell to 26-8 and 10-2. In addition to their first two conference losses of the season, it was also the end of a 15-game winning streak for the Tigers.

 
Next Up: Denison will play at No. 4 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 30.