Faxon Tosses Another Three-Hit Shutout in Wooster's Split With Wittenberg

Senior Evan Faxon fired another masterpiece, The College of Wooster baseball team ran away from Wittenberg University in a non-conference battle between 20-win ballclubs in game one, 10-0, then the Tigers extracted revenge with a 3-2 10-inning win in Thursday afternoon's nightcap at Art Murray Field.

Faxon (4-1), who tossed his second three-hit shutout of the season, retired the final 11 Wittenberg (21-10) batters he faced. For the game, the left-handed ace faced three batters over the minimum, didn't allow any extra-base hits, and only one Tiger reached scoring position. Faxon struck out eight on the day.

Wooster's (21-9) offense, plus some costly Wittenberg errors, provided Faxon plenty of run support. In the second inning, sophomore first baseman Dane Camphausen scored the game's first run when Wittenberg starter Rusty Hayhurst (2-4) threw away a pickoff attempt when trying to catch sophomore third baseman Dean Brown napping at second base. Later, junior designated hitter Alex Gasper walked to extend the inning, then Wittenberg center fielder Gage Carpenter couldn't handle sophomore Riley McEarlean's routine fly ball, and that enabled Brown to score. Next, junior center fielder Ben Gbur beat out an infield single, and Wittenberg first baseman Jack Siefert couldn't dig out a low throw from shortstop Chase Whisner. Gasper scored on the single, with McErlean coming in on the error to make it a 4-0 game.

In the third, senior second baseman Gabe Sherman's hustle equated to a blooper-turned-double, with junior shortstop Tyler Chumita, who led off the inning with a single, touching home on the play. Wooster struck for two two-out runs in the fourth, with the top of the lineup getting the job done. Gbur singled to left, then Hines and Chumita ripped back-to-back two-baggers down the line.

Wooster tacked on three insurance runs in the fifth, with Gbur stroking a two-run double down the left field line and Hines punching a RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Gbur and Hines combined to go 6-for-8 with four RBI and three runs from the top of the lineup. Chumita contributed to the win with two hits and two RBI.

Hayhurst (2-4) allowed 10 runs (six earned) on 13 hits in his five innings of work.

In the nightcap, Wooster was primed for its third walk-off victory of the season, but the Scots couldn't come through with the final clutch hit, and the Tigers walked the tightrope after what could've gone down as a costly error in the seventh. On the error, Chumita reached with two outs when the first-base umpire deemed Tiger pitcher Justin Maynard failed to touch first base in time on what would've went in the books as an inning-ending 3-1 ground out. That opened the door for Wooster, with Camphausen's single moving Chumita 90 feet away from home. Brown, Wooster's walk-off hero in Saturday's 5-2 win over Allegheny College, flied out to center, sending the game into extra innings.

Junior Colin Springer, who took over in the seventh, and stranded a pair of Tigers, did his part with a one-two-three eighth and ninth inning, while Maynard did likewise during the Scots' trips to the dish. Matt Moore plated the go-ahead run in the 10th with an RBI single after Patrick Kennedy led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an error.

Big defense kept the game tied at two in the fifth. Whisner clubbed a double to the left field fence, junior left fielder Dominic Stilliana tracked it down quickly, then Brown's relay throw to junior catcher Michael Thomas was in time to cut down pinch runner Maxwell Monachino at home.

Earlier in game two, Chumita's first-inning sacrifice fly made it a 1-0 game, while in the third, Chumita continued to provide the runs, this time with an RBI two-bagger that tied the game at two.

Wittenberg's Mason Davis delivered an RBI single up the middle, then Tanner Boros beat Wooster's return throw to the dish on a double steal attempt, with both the Tigers' other runs coming in the second inning.

DiBacco (no decision) allowed two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Springer (2-2) took the loss, allowing an unearned run on two hits in four innings of work. The duo, plus junior Dylan Carr, held the Tigers to just four hits in 10 innings.

Maynard (1-1) did the lion's share of the work for the Tigers. He held Wooster scoreless on three hits in six innings of relief, while striking out six.

Camphausen was the lone player with multiple hits in game two.

The same clubs meet up on Friday, May 7 in Springfield, Ohio, with first pitch from Carleton Davidson Stadium set for 4 p.m.