The baseball team had an impressive weekend getting a victory in three of the four games they played. The first game was a low scoring pitcher’s duel as Scots started Justin McDowell ’11 gave up only two runs on five hits while striking out 11.
Unfortunately, the Scots were unable to score after the first inning, losing the first game of the weekend 2-1 after Zack Nichols of Allegheny College hit a walk off home run.
Despite this devastating last minute defeat, the Scots would spend the rest of their weekend dominating the competition both defensively and offensively as they won all three of their games during the rest of their trip to northwestern Pennsylvania.
Wooster managed a stellar extra-innings victory during their second game on Saturday, when left fielder Stu Beath ’10 singled in center fielder Chris Wood ’10 in the top of the tenth inning.
The Scots managed to score earlier in the game when Michael Wellstead ’13 knocked in Greg Von Horn ’11 in the second inning.
Matt Barnes ’11 gave the Scots a brilliant performance on the mound, holding the Gators to just one run when Allegheny’s Ben Lowmaster knocked in an RBI with his second double of the day.
Fortunately for the Scots, shortstop Van Horn managed to catch a hard hit line drive and complete an unassisted double play.
This split marked the second time this season Wooster† split a doubleheader with Allegheny.
The Scots relied on pitching once again to start out their Sunday doubleheader as they faced Penn State- Behrend. Josh Stidham ’12 pitched four innings for the Scots allowing only one run on four hits. Tanner Hall ’10 then pitched a scoreless fifth inning followed by Matt DeGrand ’10 who finished off the last two innings of the game to get the save. Zack Vesco ’12 and Michael DeBord ’12 each knocked in a run to give the Scots a low scoring victory.
The second game was a different story as both the Wooster Scots and the Penn State Behrend Lions combined for a total of 13 runs in the first inning alone.
The Scots added three additional runs in the second inning, making the score 11-5 as the Lions came up to bat in the bottom of the second inning.
Penn State-Behrend managed to produce two runs in response, however the Scots would score four more times later in the game ensuring the second Wooster victory of the day.
Offensively, the Scots were led by several key players including Derek Wyman ’11, who hit the Scots’ only home run of the game and Van Horn who went two-for-three with a double, a triple and a stolen base.
This type of offensive explosion has become common practice for the Scots, who have scored over 10 runs in 10 different games this season including a game against Kenyon College when the Scots managed to put 25 runs on the board.
This type of diverse play shows that the Scots can compete with almost any team both offensively and defensively. Wooster has shown an ability to dominate line ups with stellar pitching and to challenge pitchers with a strong offense.
With the victories this weekend the Scots brought their record to a very impressive 20-6 for the season. In addition, the Scots are 5-3 in conference play.
This weekend, the Scots travel to Oberlin College (16-9, 7-1) for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. Typically the perennial doormat of the NCAC, the Yeomen find themselves atop the NCAC East standings. While the matchup between these two teams is typically a formality, if the Scots can’t find a way to win this weekend’s series, the Yeomen could become the surprise winners in the East division.
The team also prepares for one of its biggest games of the season Wednesday against Case Western Reserve University at Progressive Field. This is the third annual matchup between the rivals in the Cleveland Indians’ home stadium.