Craig Day

The College of Wooster built a pair of big leads in its doubleheader at Wittenberg University Sunday afternoon, but the Fighting Scots let one of them slip away as the two rivals split their North Coast Athletic Conference baseball series in Springfield, Ohio. Wooster secured a 10-8 opening win after jumping out to a 9-2 cushion and then once held a 7-2 edge in the nightcap before dropping it 9-8.

The Scots (15-10, 9-3 NCAC), who remain in first-place in the conference standings, used three-run homers from Zac Mathie in the first and Craig Day in the fourth, followed by another three-run spot during the fifth inning for that 9-2 lead in the first game. Mathie gave Wooster a 3-0 advantage just four batters into the game, as his second home run of the season brought in Derek Wyman and Greg Van Horn.

Back-to-back one-out singles from Johnathan Ray and Michael DeBord brought Day to the plate in the fourth when he cleared the fence for the third time this spring to make it 6-1.

Wittenberg (17-12, 7-3 NCAC) got one run back in its half of the fourth, but the Scots' offense went to work again in the fifth, with the big hit being a two-run double off the bat of new starting centerfielder Kyle Koski.

That gave Wooster a seemingly comfortable seven-run cushion entering the bottom of the fifth, but the Tigers answered with three that frame and made things interesting in the seventh. After Day homered for the second time in the game, this time a solo shot, which gave the Scots a 10-5 lead, Wittenberg scored three times in its last at bat and got the tying run to the plate before Tyler Fugate closed it out by striking out a pinch hitter.

Keenan White started for Wooster and tallied his first win of the year (1-2), yielding four earned runs in 4.1 innings, while Fugate went the last 2.2 innings.

The Scots seemed to be in good shape for the sweep after putting up four runs in the first inning of game two, followed by two in the second, and one in the third. Wooster's first three batters loaded the bases, and after an RBI fielder's choice play and an RBI groundout, Ray cracked a two-run homer for the 4-0 lead.

In the second, Mathie hit an RBI double to account for one of the Scots' two scores and a 6-2 lead, and in the third, DeBord and Day put together back-to-back two-baggers for a tally and five-run cushion.

The Tigers clawed back with two scores in both the third and fourth innings to close the deficit to one, and after Wooster put an unearned tally on the board in the sixth, the hosts came back with three, including what turned out to be the game-winner.

The Scots' middle reliever, Steve Hagen, took the loss (3-2) after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits in 2.1 innings.

Offensively, Day's final line for the day read 3-for-5 with the two homers and five RBI, and he also drew three walks. Also registering three hits were Michael Wellstead (3-for-9), Van Horn (3-for-5), Mathie (3-for-8 with five RBI), and DeBord (3-for-7).

Wooster is off until a non-conference game at Washington & Jefferson College (7-10) Thursday at 5 p.m.