GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 20, 2024) – The No. 2 Denison University baseball team scored 22 runs on 23 hits in just seven innings in a 22-0 win in game one and then finished with 10 runs on 17 hits in a 10-3 win in game two as the Big Red swept Hiram College during Senior Day on Saturday.
 
Game 1 (Denison 22, Hiram 0):

• Denison scored 11 runs on nine hits in the third inning as the Big Red sent 15 batters to the plate and took advantage of 10 unearned runs in the inning.
• 13 Denison players had at least one hit and eight had at least two hits.
• 12 Big Red players had at least one run scored and 11 had at least one run batted in.
• Jack Lutte was 3-for-5 with five runs scored, two RBI's, two walks and a double at the top of the lineup.
• Eric Colaco was 3-for-4 with three RBI's and two runs scored.
• Noah Leib was 2-for-4 with two RBI's, two runs scored and a double.
• Cade Nowik was 2-for-3 with three RBI's.
• Jake Blozy was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two doubles.
• Owen Wilson was 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
• Alex Vasquez and Eli Aronson made it seven Big Red players with at least two runs scored.
• Bobby Haarde was 2-for-3 with three RBI's, his first hits and RBI's of the season.
• Will Rettig (6-0) worked around two hit by pitches in the first inning and another in the second inning to finish with six innings pitched allowing two hits, no runs and no walks, all in addition to striking out 10 batters. He struck out the side in the second inning and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

 
Game 2 (Denison 10, Hiram 3):

• Denison got on the board in the third inning as Aronson led off with a single to left field, advanced to second on a walk by Colaco, moved to third base on a groundout by Lutte and then scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Leib.
• After a single to center field by Jake Welsch and a walk by Colin Ravin to start off the bottom of the fourth inning, Aronson drove them both in with a two-out, two-run double to center field to make it 3-0 Big Red.
• Denison then made it 6-0 in the fifth inning as Lutte led off with a single up the middle and was followed by an RBI-triple to right field by Leib, who scored himself one batter later on a sacrifice foul out to right field by Nowik. Welsch followed with a single to right field, stole second base and advanced to third on an error on the steal attempt before scoring on an RBI-groundout by Ravin.
• Nick Falter made his first appearance since March 2 and pitched a 1-2-3 first inning. He finished with two innings pitched allowing one hit, no runs and no walks while striking out four.
• Robbie Lee (5-1) came in to pitch in the third inning but ran into some trouble with a three-run top of the sixth inning by Hiram.
• Denison put the game out of reach in the seventh inning as Max Fishbein came up with a two-run double down the left field line before a pair of two-out RBI-singles by Colaco and Lutte.
• Aronson was 3-for-5 with two RBI's and a double while Welsch was also 3-for-5 and added two runs scored and Wilson was the third Big Red player to bat 3-for-5.
• Ravin walked three times, scored twice, and had two stolen bases.

 
Senior Day Recap (Stats entering Saturday):

• These seniors have gone 123-37 together, including winning three straight North Coast Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championships and three straight NCAC Tournament titles. In addition to being selected to host an NCAA Regional in both 2022 and 2023, the Big Red have also advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship game in each of the last three seasons.
• Left-handed pitcher Nate Dinges has played in three seasons with the Big Red and has made nine-career appearances, including eight as a senior. In 16.0 innings this season, Dinges sports a 1.88 earned run average with one save and 11 strikeouts.
• First baseman Noah Leib is a career .344 hitter with 93 starts in 106 career games played. He has started in all 72 games over the last two seasons and has totaled 122 hits, 100 RBI's, 93 runs, 41 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs and 24 stolen bases throughout his four years. As a senior, Leib is batting .357 with 40 hits, 28 runs, 25 RBI's, 13 doubles, 1 triple, two home runs, a team-best 18 walks, and nine stolen bases. In 2023, Leib was named Second-Team All-Region (ABCA/Rawlings) and First-Team All-Conference while also earning a spot on the NCAC All-Tournament Team. He started in all 45 games for the Big Red that season, led the team with a .379 batting average, 61 RBI's, 39 walks, a .488 on base percentage and a .663 slugging percentage, and was tied for first with 18 doubles. His 39 walks tied the program record for a single season while his 61 RBI's rank third. In addition, his 355 putouts and 37 double plays in 2023 are both program records for a single season. Leib has been named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week once in his career (3/22/23), was a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2021-22 and 2022-23, was a 2022-23 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee, and was a member of the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team.
• Catcher Colin Ravin has appeared in 58 games with 24 starts, including playing in 16 games with a career-best 14 starts so far as a senior. He has recorded 28 hits, 24 RBI's, 18 runs, nine doubles and one home run in his career, and has a career-best .356 batting average to go along with 16 hits, 12 RBI's, 11 runs and 11 walks drawn this season while also stealing his first-three career bases. Ravin has been a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, and was a Denison Top-50 Scholar-Athlete and a Chi Alpha Sigma inductee in 2022-23 as well.
• Left-handed pitcher George Viebrock has made 54 appearances and eight starts in his career and has compiled a 3.19 earned run average to go along with a 14-5 record and 12 career saves. In 118.1 career innings, Viebrock has struck out 125 batters while walking just 22. As a senior, Viebrock is 4-0 with four saves, a 2.53 ERA, 41 strikeouts and four walks in 32.0 innings pitched. In 2023, Viebrock was named Third-Team All-NCAC after appearing in 22 games and making four starts to go along with leading the NCAC with six saves. He also finished the year with a 7-3 record and a 3.83 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 49.1 innings pitched. His 22 appearances that season are tied for the second most in a single season in program history. Viebrock was also named the Most Valuable Player of the NCAC Tournament in 2023 after pitching all three games and picking up a pair of saves.
• Outfielder Jake Welsch is a career .336 hitter who has started in 136 of 147 games in his career, including all 27 games as a senior. He has totaled 179 hits, 122 RBI's, 110 runs, 39 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 18 stolen bases. As a senior, Welsch is hitting .295 with 33 hits, 30 RBI's, 25 runs, three doubles, two triples, two home runs, 11 walks and five stolen bases. Jake was named Second-Team All-NCAC in 2023 after starting in 45 of 46 games in the outfield and hitting .350 with 41 RBIs, 38 runs and 17 doubles.
• Shortstop Owen Wilson is a career .283 hitter who has started in 125 of 130 games in his career, including all 117 games he has played in over the last three seasons. He has totaled 119 hits, 95 runs, 62 RBI's, 20 doubles, five triples, one home run and 28 stolen bases. As a senior, Wilson is hitting .283 with 31 hits, 25 runs, 19 RBI's, three doubles, two triples, one home run, 10 walks and six stolen bases. Owen was named Second-Team All-NCAC in 2023 after starting all 46 games at shortstop and hitting .282 with 44 hits, 38 runs, 24 RBI's, nine doubles and eight stolen bases. He also set a program record with 153 assists in 2023 and helped turn 32 double plays, which is tied for the second most in a single season in program history. Wilson has been a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2021-22 and 2022-23, was a 2022-23 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee, and was a member of the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team.
• The Denison baseball team also recognized their graduating student assistant coach, Mikey Bednarek. Mikey is from Chicago, Illinois, and played two seasons for the Big Red before helping coach the squad during each of the last two years.

 
Records:

• With its fifth straight series sweep against Hiram (13-17 overall, 2-8 North Coast Athletic Conference) since 2018, Denison improves to 27-3 overall and 9-1 in the NCAC 30 games into its season.

 
Next Up: Denison will return right back to the field at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday, Apr. 21) to host DePauw University in another NCAC doubleheader. After sweeping the College of Wooster on Saturday, DePauw keeps pace with Denison and Wittenberg University as one of three teams atop the NCAC standings with just one loss in conference action so far this season.