Wabash linebacker John Hartley rings the Monon bell during a post-game
celebration after the 2014 Monon Classic. Wabash defeated DePauw 27-3.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
What sticks out in the minds of Tiger fans is the football team’s 27-3 loss to the Wabash College Little Giants in the Monon Bell Classic. That one hurt, but keep your heads up when looking at the rest of the schools’ season series.
DePauw University played the Little Giants out to an overall record of 6-4-1 with all regular season meetings between the two schools completed for the 2014-2015 year.
The fall sports didn’t go the Tigers' way, as the Little Giants held a 2-0-1 record as the schools shifted into winter athletics.
The teams split the two games played on the hardwood, but the Tigers really turned things on in the spring season.
In the three spring sports, DePauw held a record of 5-1 with three of those victories coming from the baseball team alone.
Here’s a look back to all the head-to-head battles between the Tigers and Little Giants this season:
Swimming:
Wabash 162, DePauw 129
For the first meeting of the school year, the Tigers and Little Giants got together the pool. The Little Giants won nine of the meets events and held on for a 33 point victory over the visiting Tigers.
Soccer:
DePauw 1, Wabash 1
After scoring goals just eight minutes apart, the Tigers and Little Giants battled to a draw on the soccer pitch. Wabash scored in the 32nd minute and sophomore Taras Tataryn followed up for the Tigers in the 40th. The two teams would go on to play 70 more minutes of scoreless soccer with neither team able to break the tie.
Football:
Wabash 27, DePauw 3
In the marquee matchup of the year for the two schools, the Little Giants came out victorious, holding onto the bell for the sixth straight year. Wabash scored on four of its first five possessions and the Tigers trailed by 10 at the end of the first quarter. DePauw’s only real chance to find the endzone came after sophomore quarterback Matt Hunt connected with senior J.D. Robinson for 74 yards who looked like he would score, but tripped himself up at the five yard line.
Basketball:
DePauw 75, Wabash 58
The Tigers and Little Giants got together at Neal Fieldhouse in late January for their first of two meetings on the hardwood this season. Sophomore Luke Lattner exploded for 20 first half points and finished the night with 36 en route to a 17 point DePauw victory.
Wabash 72, DePauw 62
It didn’t take long for the Little Giants to get their revenge on DePauw. Less than a month after their first meeting, the two teams got together once again, this time in Crawfordsville. The Little Giants lit up DePauw, shooting over 52 percent from the floor and closed out the season series with a victory.
Lacrosse:
DePauw 20, Wabash 4
This marked the first time in history that the two schools got together for a lacrosse game. In its first year with a program, Wabash was throttled by the Tigers 20-4. Sophomore Nick Woerner and first-year Andrew Wright both found the back of the net five times on the day.
Tennis:
DePauw 6, Wabash 3
The Tigers continued their domination over the Little Giants on the Tennis court this year, defeating Wabash for the 14th straight season. The Tigers took two out of the three doubles matches, but the Little Giants battled back, winning the number one and two seeded singles matches. DePauw closed out the day with wins in the final four matches to ensure their domination of the Little Giants would continue.
Baseball:
DePauw 4, Wabash 3
DePauw scored single runs in the second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings and that proved to be just enough in the first meeting of the year. The Little Giants tried to claw their way back into the game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh and final inning to fall just short of a comeback.
DePauw 16, Wabash 7
The Little Giants came out hot in the second game of the weekend series, holding a 5-2 lead after the first inning. The Tigers would battle back and take the lead at 6-5 with a run in the top of the fifth inning. The Tigers put an exclamation point on things by tallying six runs in the top of the ninth inning to blow things wide open.
DePauw 15, Wabash 10
This time it was the Tigers’ turn to put up a crooked number in the first. The Tigers hung up five runs on Wabash pitching in the top of the first and never looked back. DePauw scored 10 runs over the course of the final three innings to secure a series victory in what was a wild ballgame.
Wabash 8, DePauw 7
The Little Giants narrowly avoided a sweep of the season series, just hanging on to claim the final game. Wabash scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning and held off a late charge by the Tigers who closed the game to one by scoring twice in the top of the eighth. Junior Lucas Italiano had an impressive day at the plate for the Tigers, driving in six of the team’s seven runs.