WOOSTER, Ohio – Sophomore right-hander Corey Knauf nearly did something no College of Wooster pitcher has done, and senior right fielder Ben Hines clubbed a pair of home runs during the Fighting Scots' 10-0 game-one win over Hiram College on Wednesday afternoon at Art Murray Field. The Terriers stormed back to take the nightcap 9-4.
Knauf (3-1), who logged Wooster's (11-7, 2-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) first 15-strikeout game in 78 years on March 25 against Williams College, carried a no-hitter into the final inning in Wednesday's opener. Had the no-no remained intact, Knauf would have became the first pitcher in program history to have a 15-strikeout game and a no-hitter.
Alas, Hiram (8-10, 1-3 NCAC) center fielder Curtis Caithaml laced a leadoff single up the middle in the seventh inning, in what marked the Terriers' lone hit of the game. Knauf, who recorded his first career shutout, struck out five and faced just four batters over the minimum, thanks in part to the Scots going around the horn for an inning-ending two-for-one special in the second inning.
Junior first baseman Dane Camphausen's defense also helped keep Knauf's no-hit bid alive through the sixth. He made a nice back-handed play on Aidan Jantz's third-inning grounder, and had two fine catches in foul ground during the game.
Wooster, which was playing as the road team, beat up Hiram starter Robert James (0-2) from the start. Senior center fielder Ben Gbur welcomed the host Terriers with a leadoff double, then scored on a Hiram error. Sophomore Eli Westrick kept the offense rolling with a RBI single up the middle, and junior third baseman Dean Brown followed with an RBI double. Senior designated hitter Alex Gasper's sacrifice fly made it 4-0 in the first.
Gbur teed off on James' 2-1 offering in the second inning for a solo blast to left field, and Hines followed that up with a dinger of his own. Hines' second blast was on a 2-0 offering from Declan Ange in the seventh. The right fielder's second four-bagger upped Wooster's lead to 10-0 and set the stage for a run-rule victory.
James' line included eight runs (five earned) on eight hits in two-plus innings of work.
Senior shortstop Tyler Chumita's sacrifice fly gave Wooster a 1-0 lead in the nightcap, but it did not hold. Kyle Workman hit his first of two homers in the bottom of the first, and Connor Bansek's RBI single gave the Terriers a lead that was not relinquished.
Wooster did not score again until the sixth in the nightcap. Sophomore pinch hitter Jack Henderson smashed the first pitch he saw for a two-run homer. The Scots crept closer in the eighth on Henderson's RBI groundout.
Dylan Carr (1-2) took the loss in the nightcap. He allowed five runs on six hits in two-plus innings. Junior Ryan Sullivan fired two innings of scoreless relief, during which he struck out three.
Stephen Javorek (3-2) kept Wooster at bay on the scoreboard despite allowing 11 base runners in six innings. He gave up eight hits and three runs (two earned). Jacob Kocuba (save 3) went the rest of the way, allowing a run on four hits. He was helped tremendously by an interference call on a strikeout that resulted in a double play.
Camphausen's five hits led the way for Wooster, which also had four base knocks on the day from Gbur and Westrick. Henderson, who had just two plate appearances, logged three RBI.
Workman went 4-for-6 with three RBI and two home runs on the day for Hiram.
Next, Wooster's at Otterbein University (14-6) for a 4 p.m. game on Thursday, April 7. The game is the makeup from April 5.