Junior Andrew Quinn releases a pitch during the Tiger’s sweep of Wittenberg Sunday afternoon. Quinn only allowed four hits on the game as DePauw finished their first weekend of NCAC play with a 2-2 conference record. ERIN MANN / THE DEPAUW
Things could only go uphill for the Tigers after their first doubleheader against Wittenberg (6-10) on Saturday.
DePauw (11-9) not only dropped both games, but lost both of them in extra innings, with the final loss coming from a 12-run ninth inning for Wittenberg.
“After the games on Saturday, morale was pretty low,” said junior pitcher Riley Futterknecht. “Losing both games of a double-header is always tough, but to drop two games at home in extras made it hurt even more.”
Game one looked promising for the Tigers, as DePauw held the lead for most of game one on thanks to another quality start by pitcher Wyatt Spector. The senior gave up three runs on four hits over seven innings.
Apart from junior infielder Tate Stewart’s RBI single and senior first baseman Conner Einertson’s two-run homer in the fourth, the Tigers failed to get any runs on the board during the later innings.
After scoreless seventh and eighth innngs, the Tigers had no answer for Wittenberg’s go-ahead run in the ninth that gave them a 4-3 victory over DePauw.
Game two saw DePauw lose and regain the lead three times before allowing the 12-run inning. The 5-17 loss overshadowed yet another quality start from the Tigers' pitching staff. This time it came from Futterknecht, who pitched seven innings and gave up four runs, only one of which was earned.
“I thought we still showed our competitive nature Saturday," he said, "because we were losing for a majority of both games but managed to get ourselves to a situation where one hit late in each game could have gotten us a win.”
In order to climb back over .500, the Tigers knew they had to forget Saturday’s disappointment, and quickly.
“On Sunday, we came in with a chip on our shoulder,” said Ryan Grippo. “Sometimes, you just need to get beaten badly to wake up and see how good you actually can be.”
That turned out to be the case for DePauw, who proceeded to sweep Wittenberg in the second double header.
Game one was led by junior pitcher Mike Hammel, who surrendered only one run on two hits, moving to a perfect 4-0 on the season in the Tigers' 4-1 win.
Led by a big inning of their own, DePauw’s offense exploded in game two, as the Tigers scored 13 runs on 13 hits. Sophomore outfielder Collin Einerston led DePauw’s lineup, doubling and tripling while knocking in two runs.
Junior pitcher Andrew Quinn led the Tigers in game two with the Tigers’ fourth straight quality start, giving up only two runs over seven innings in DePauw’s 13-2 win.
“After we won the first game… I knew I had to give us a good chance to win the second game and finish with a 2-2 split on the weekend,” said Quinn, who has normally worked as a reliever this season. “I was definitely excited, especially with the lineup I had giving me run support and the defense I had behind me.”
Sunday provided a second chance for DePauw’s defense, which was perfect through both games after committing five errors in Saturday’s 17-5 loss alone.
“As a group, I think we learned a lot about ourselves this weekend,” said Quinn. “We're a team that can beat anyone in the country when we're at our best, and I think we know what kind of intensity we need to bring to the ballpark from here on out.”
DePauw will continue conference play this weekend in Ohio, where the Tigers will take on Denison in Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders, with the game one first pitch scheduled for noon on Saturday.