Nanak Saran

Zach Woullard

Behind four quality starts on the mound in five games and timely hitting, The College of Wooster,   ranked No. 19 by D3baseball.com, has opened up the 2016 campaign with a 4-1 record during the first week of its annual two-week swing in Florida.

Despite a strong performance from ace Michael Houdek – two runs over seven innings – the opener got away from Wooster during the eighth inning, as Johns Hopkins University, a traditionally strong program from the Mid-Atlantic Region, took a 9-1 decision.

The Fighting Scots have bounced back in a big way, though, rattling off four-straight wins, keyed by the starting pitching of Nanak Saran, Tyler Schuch, Zach Woullard, and Houdek. Saran tossed seven shutout innings in an eventual 8-5 victory over Salem State University, Schuch no-hit the University of Wisconsin-Stout for 5.1 innings en route to a 12-2 triumph, then Woullard did two outs better as the senior right-hander held North Park University without a hit for six innings in a 5-1 win, and Houdek went 7.1 strong innings to lead Wooster past regional rival Heidelberg University 5-2.

All told, the Scots' five starts have resulted in a 4-1 record, a 1.38 ERA, and 30 strikeouts over 32.2 innings pitched, while yielding just 20 hits and 11 walks. Also of note, they've accounted for more than 70 percent of the 45.0 innings on the trip thus far.

Jamie Lackner and Ryan Ostendorf have been the offensive leaders, both hitting at a .500-plus clip. Lackner has reached base successfully more than 70 percent of the time (.708 on-base percentage) by going 10-for-17 (.588) to go with five walks and two hit by pitches. Among the preseason All-American's 10 hits are three doubles, and he's scored five runs while driving in three. Ostendorf is at an even .500 with 10 hits in 20 at bats, plus he has four RBI and four stolen bases in as many attempts.

The early team leader in RBI is Joey Gilmore with five. His 3-for-4, two-RBI performance against Heidelberg boosted his batting average to .316, with three of his six hits on the season being doubles. Also off to a solid start at the plate is fellow senior Kenny Reckart, currently holding a .375 mark (6-for-16).

Other individual highlights have included Michael Wielansky's two-run triple that gave Wooster a 5-1 cushion in the sixth inning of the Heidelberg game, Drew Tornow's three-bagger that plated two in the first inning and helped the Scots vault to a 3-0 lead against North Park, and Jacob Solomon singling in two runs during a six-run eighth inning of the Salem State game.

Wooster will play five more games the second week of its stay in Florida, starting with Sunday's affair versus North Central (Ill.) College.