CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (March 30, 2024) – The No. 4 Denison University baseball team opened up North Coast Athletic Conference action with a pair of 9-0 and 9-4 wins at Wabash College on Saturday in Indiana. The theme of the day for the Big Red pitching staff was runners left on base as Wabash stranded 26 runners on base for the afternoon.
 
Game 1 (No. 4 Denison 9, Wabash 0):

• After hitting the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning, walking the second batter and then getting a flyout to move two runners into scoring position with one out, Will Rettig (5-0) got out of the jam.
• Rettig then faced a bases-loaded situation with one out in the bottom of the second inning before getting a flyout to left field and a fielder's choice to second to again keep it scoreless.
• Denison was able to get on the board in the top of the third inning when Jake Blozy led off with a single to center field and then scored all the way from first and just got under the tag at home plate on a double to right center by Eric Colaco.
• The Big Red made it 2-0 in the top of the fourth as Alex Vasquez drew a two-out walk, stole second base and then scored on an RBI-single to left field by Erik Sundgren.
• After setting the Little Giants down 1-2-3 in the third inning, Rettig again saw the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, this time with nobody out, but got an infield fly to second base and back-to-back strikeouts to again get out of it unscathed.
• Rettig would finish with 5.2 innings pitched allowing four hits, no runs, two walks and five strikeouts.
• The next Denison pitcher was George Viebrock, who left a runner on third base in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the two-run lead before a big eighth inning by the Big Red.
• The top of the eighth saw Denison score six runs on six hits as Noah Leib hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Vasquez got an RBI on a sacrifice bunt before a pair of two-out RBI-singles by Blozy and Cade Nowik and then a two-run single by Jake Welsch.
• Welsch led the Big Red with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate while Blozy, Colaco and Sundgren each had two hits.
• Colaco would finish 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, a double and a triple.
• Rettig, Viebrock and Manny Nager combined to allow just five hits and three walks while striking out nine Wabash hitters for the game.
• Both teams left 12 runners on base in game one while the Little Giants went 0-for-11 for the game with runners in scoring position and were just 1-of-18 with runners on base.

 
Game 2 (No. 4 Denison 9, Wabash 4):

• Denison scored four runs in the top of the first as Welsch continued his day with an RBI-single to get the scoring started.
• In the top of the third inning, a two-out walk by Vasquez was followed by an RBI-double to right center by Sundgren, and then an error at second base kept the inning alive for a two-run double to center field by Colaco, making it a 7-0 Big Red lead.
• Starting pitcher Peter Lemke allowed four hits and one run through the first four innings, but ran into some trouble in the fifth as Wabash loaded the bases with one out and scored a pair of runs on a single to third base and an RBI-walk.
• Robbie Lee (3-1) came in to pitch for Lemke in the fifth, and after walking in one more run, got a groundball right back to him for a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play to stop Wabash's potentially bigger inning in its tracks.
• With a three-run (7-4) lead, Lee left the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, and then Denison got two runs back in the top of the seventh as Leib, Colin Ravin and Vasquez hit three straight singles to get the inning started. After Leib scored on Vasquez's single, a sacrifice bunt by Sundgren moved the runners ahead before a sacrifice foul out to right field by Blozy.
• Jack Rollo proceeded to leave a runner at third base in the bottom of the seventh and stranded two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth.
• Then after the first two Wabash hitters in the bottom of the ninth walked, Viebrock came in and got back-to-back strikeouts followed by a groundout to second base to end it.
• Lee, Rollo and Viebrock combined to limit Wabash to four hits, no runs, four walks and seven strikeouts over the final 4.2 innings of the game.
• Colaco was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles while Leib was 3-for-4.
• Denison left 12 runners on base for the second game in a row while Wabash left 14 runners on base in game two. The Little Giants did, however, draw 10 walks from the Big Red pitching staff and for the second game in a row, drew three hit by pitches.

 
Records:

• With its 11th and 12th straight wins this season and its third straight series sweep over the Little Giants, No. 4-ranked Denison improves to 19-2 overall and 4-0 in the NCAC while Wabash falls to 9-9 and 0-2.

 
Next Up: The Big Red will host Ohio Wesleyan University for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2.