Tigers Open 2015 Season With Loss To Pitt.-Greensburg

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Wittenberg baseball team opened its 2015 season on Spring Break at the RussMatt Invitational at Chain of Lakes Park in a loss to Pitt.-Greensburg.

The Tigers fell by a score of 16-4 to fall to 0-1 to start the season. Wittenberg opened the game with two runs in the bottom of the first, batting as the home team, as sophomore Josh Kaplan (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) doubled to left field for two runs, pushing across sophomore Dalton Boucher (Granville, Ohio/Granville) and senior Zac Wilson (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton).

Greensburg answered with two runs in the second to tie the game, and went on to hold the Tigers scoreless until the eighth while scoring three in the third, two in the fourth, fifth and sixth, and four in the seventh. Wittenberg got two in the eighth and Pitt posted one in the ninth to round out the scoring.

In the eighth, junior Corey Farnbauch (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) slammed a home run to score himself and freshman Erik Olson (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy). He finished 1-for-4 on the game while Olson was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Kaplan finished the game 1-for-4, while sophomore Cal Slusarz (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga) went 2-for-4 with a walk to lead the lineup, adding a stolen base. The team finished with seven hits behind Slusarz' multiple-hit day.

Boucher walked twice to complement his 1-for-3 line, and Wilson was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases, wasting no time on his campaign to continue ascending the career stolen base chart where he currently stands fourth with 49, two behind Aric Thomas (1996-99).

On the bump, sophomore Jon Ellerbrock (Tipp City, Ohio/Bethel) got the first start of the year and surrendered nine runs on eight hits and three walks, suffering the effects of the team's four defensive errors.  The miscues resulted in only four earned runs charged to the starter, who logged five strikeouts in five innings while taking the loss.

Senior Mike Burgher (Birmingham, Mich./Seaholm) pitched two innings of relief, followed by freshman  Tanner Combs (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) with a scoreless, one-hit, one-strikeout frame, and freshman Corbin Dennis (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) threw an inning with two hits and one run with one strikeout.

The Tigers continue their Spring Break action tomorrow, Monday, March 9, at 11:30 a.m. versus Coe College. Check WittenbergTigers.com for live statistics courtesy the Coe sports information staff.

John Strawn '07