It was another long doubleheader for DePauw baseball on Tuesday in Granville.
After being swept by the Big Red on Saturday, the Tigers dropped the final two games of a four-game series to Denison 0-5 and 1-4 at Big Red Field.
With the losses, the Tigers fall below .500 for the first time since early March, while Denison (15-5) remained perfect in conference play with a 4-0 record.
“Overall, I don’t think… we played poorly in any one part of the game that it caused us to lose,” said junior pitcher Andrew Quinn. “We just weren’t better than Denison on Tuesday. That’s really it.”
Quinn (1-2, 4.37) got the ball in game one, giving the Tigers seven quality innings. The right hander gave up four runs--three earned--while striking out two in the loss.
“Early on, I found myself in trouble because I was trying to be too fine with my pitches, but by the time I got through the lineup once I felt pretty locked in,” Quinn said. “My slider felt sharp, and I was able to locate it really well in any count.”
Quinn received little help on offense from the Tiger lineup, which was four-hit by Denison’s Ian Walsh, who moves to a perfect 4-0 on the season.
“Our goal is to never stop fighting each inning even when we are down, but sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team when they outplay you,” said sophomore outfielder Collin Einertson. “Denison is a fundamentally sound team.”
The offensive struggles continued in game two for the Tigers, as the team left nine runners on base, despite collecting ten hits.
The biggest threat came in the fourth inning, when the Tigers found themselves with runners on second and third with no outs after a lead-off single by Einertson and a double by Tate Stewart.
After a strikeout and pop out, infielder Ryan Grippo managed to get the Tigers on the board with a two-out RBI single.
“We try not to overthink things at the plate,” said Hammel, who started game two on the mound. “If you think, you will get beat. We will fine-tune our approaches at the plate in practice so we are prepared to put up some big numbers [this weekend.]”
Hammel (4-1, 3.68) struggled early on, giving up three runs in the first two innings before settling down. Despite going five and one in three innings, the junior was handed his first loss of the season.
Despite the setback, Hammel and the Tigers are already looking toward the weekend, when the team will continue conference play on the road with Ohio Wesleyan (15-6, 2-2) in back-to-back doubleheaders.
“The team’s mentality is 'so what,' Hammel said. “We still have a lot of baseball to be played, and we just need to relax… We need to create the havoc and not wait to start up a big inning because by that time, [it’s] too late.”
Game one’s first pitch on Saturday is scheduled for noon.