Despite an extra-innings loss on Saturday, the DePauw University baseball team picked up three big wins this weekend over Wittenberg University and clinched a second-place finish in the NCAC's Western Division.
The wins lock the Tigers into a cross-divisional series matchup with the Eastern Division's third-place finisher, Oberlin College, this coming Saturday afternoon at Walker Field.
"Being able to play at home for the cross-series is a huge advantage," first-year Michael Hartnagel said. "Having the home crowd and being used to our field will play a big part."
In order to earn that right, the Tigers had to take care of business against the Tigers of Wittenberg.
DePauw came out strong in the first game of the series. Two runs in the first inning and another in the third gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
After Wittenberg cut the DePauw lead to two with a run in the top of the fourth, the Tigers exploded for four runs in the bottom half of the inning to blow the game open.
Senior Brendan Pashia recorded the big hit of the inning with a ringing double that brought home two Tigers.
Pashia led the way offensively for the Tigers. The right fielder collected two hits and drove in five runs on the afternoon to help DePauw secure an 8-1 win.
This was more than enough offense for first-year pitcher Riley Futterknecht, who went the distance for the Tigers. The lefty recorded his second win of the season scattering three hits and one run while striking out seven.
"I was pretty locked in," Futterknecht said. "I tried to get ahead in counts with my fastball and keep hitters off balance by mixing in my curveball and change up. I thought my curveball was my best pitch Saturday. It's pretty easy to get into a groove when your defense is making plays for you all day and your offense puts up eight runs."
In game two of the series, the offense carried the Tigers to a wild 12-7 victory.
DePauw burst out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a double to the gap in right-center by junior Collin Henry that brought home two.
After the Tigers added another run in the second inning, Wittenberg scored six unanswered runs to tie the score after five innings.
DePauw would reply with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and three more in the bottom of the eighth with the help of a two-run homer from senior Zach Starr.
"I attacked pitches early in the count and squared a few up," Starr said. "I look forward to taking that swing into the conference tournament. I'm excited for this team."
Senior J.T. Timmer pitched beautifully in relief for the Tigers. Timmer threw the final four and two-thirds innings, surrendering seven hits and only one run on his way to picking up his first win of the season.
It would be more of the same for DePauw in the third game of the series as the Tigers exploded for nine runes en route to a 9-2 win over Wittenberg.
Eight runs in the first two innings for the Tigers would be more than enough support for sophomore starting pitcher Wyatt Spector. The left-hander pitched all seven innings for the Tigers, allowing only four hits and two runs.
With the second-place finish already locked up, Wittenberg would get their revenge on the Tigers with a 2-1 win in 11 innings.
Wittenberg struck first with a run in the sixth inning, but DePauw would counter with an RBI double from sophomore Connor Einertson in the eighth inning that tied the game and sent it to extras.
Wittenberg would push across the winning run in the eleventh on a single from Aaron Patrick. DePauw was then sent down in order in the bottom half of the inning, preventing them from earning the sweep.
Senior Brendan Bolander suffered the loss, giving up the run in the eleventh inning; however, it was unearned thanks to an error by first-year catcher Marko Adams.
The solid performance from the DePauw offense was clearly the highlight of the weekend. In the four game series, the Tigers pushed across an incredibly high 30 runs. Starr drove in seven of those runs, while Pashia brought home eight in the series.
Before the cross-divisional with Oberlin next weekend, the Tigers will close out their regular season schedule with doubleheader at home against Anderson University this evening.
