Live Stats | 'Berg Athletics Network (vs. Wooster)
TIFFIN, Ohio—The Heidelberg University baseball team will take a break from Ohio Athletic Conference action and host a pair of non-conference games against North Coast Athletic Conference foes The College of Wooster on Tuesday and Wittenberg University on Wednesday at Peaceful Valley in Tiffin, Ohio. Both games are slated for 4 p.m.
Live stats for both games will be available here. Tuesday’s game against Wooster will also be broadcast live on the ‘Berg Athletics Network. Jeff Garvin will have the call. Two more live broadcasts remain on the 2012 schedule: Saturday’s OAC doubleheader against John Carroll University and a May 5 OAC doubleheader against Capital University.
Heidelberg (18-15, 7-7 OAC) is coming off a doubleheader split Sunday at OAC foe the University of Mount Union. The Student Princes rallied for three runs in the seventh inning of game one and fell short, 8-6, but rebounded in game two to etch a 5-4 win in 10 innings. Senior righty Daniel Brannum (Jamestown/Greeneview) pitched 3.2 innings of relief in the second game and earned the win, while senior shortstop Ricardo Lizcano (Toledo/Start) drew his 100th career walk, tying Jeremy Wentworth’s (2006-09) school record.
Senior left fielder Ross Pruitt (Elletsville, Ind./Edgewood) (.375, 30 RBI, 0 HR, 28 R) leads the Student Princes at the plate and has team-highs in runs scored and hits (42), and has recorded 16 multi-hit games, including five with three or more. Freshman first baseman Eric Monroe (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) (.371, 22, 2, 15) and freshman designated hitter Trevor Oldham (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) (.343, 11, 0, 19) are also tearing at a productive pace. Oldham leads the team in on-base percentage (.465). Lizcano (.325, 37, 6, 25) leads the team in RBI, home runs, extra-base hits (20), slugging percentage (.633) and walks (20).
Lizcano, who previously broke the school record with his 32nd career home run earlier this season, is currently tied for school career records with 16 triples and 100 walks, and is 10 total bases shy of breaking Jason Lash’s (2008-11) record of 419. Lizcano is also a career .393 hitter, just 21 points shy of Frank Balogh’s (1998-2002) .414 clip, and is currently slugging 19 points higher (.686) than Aaron Fischer’s (1996-2000) career record of .667.
On the mound, sophomore righty Chris Thomas (Canton/Perry) (6.69 ERA, 22 K, 40.1 IP) is 2-4 in nine appearances (seven starts). Senior right hander Sly Nino (Willard) (9.95, 5, 12.2) is 1-0 in six appearances (three starts). Junior righty Tyler Fruhwirth (Beavercreek) (4.00, 32, 54.0) is 4-3 in 10 appearances (eight starts) with two complete games (one shutout) and leads the team in innings pitched. Freshman right hander Ryan Minteer (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) (3.64, 25, 42.0) is 2-2 in nine appearances (six starts) with one complete game.
Brannum and junior righty Teddy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) anchor the bullpen with a combined 36 appearances. Brannum (3.92, 36, 39.0) is 6-0 with one save in 18 appearances and leads the team in wins and strikeouts. Lowe (5.96, 13, 25.2) is 3-2 in 18 outings.
Head coach Matt Palm, in his 13th season at Heidelberg, is 399-174 (.696) in 573 games and is looking for one more victory to become just the fifth coach in OAC history with 400 career wins, behind only the legendary Don Schaly of Marietta College, Bob Fisher of Baldwin-Wallace College, Dick Fishbaugh of Otterbein University, and Herb Strayer of Ohio Northern University. Palm is a 1995 graduate of Wooster and played his collegiate ball under current Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini.
Wooster (21-11, 9-3 NCAC) has won 10 straight games following a four-game sweep of Oberlin College. The Fighting Scots are led at the plate by Johnathan Ray (.400, 28, 6, 32), who leads the team in RBI, runs and slugging (.638), and is tied with Eddie Reese for the team lead in homers. Reese (.377, 27, 6, 27) has a team-high 43 hits and leads with 16 extra-base knocks. Jarrod Mancine (.368, 10, 0, 19) and Zac Mathie (.353, 25, 2, 24) are also hitting above the .350 clip. Mathie has a team-high 11 doubles.
Seven different Fighting Scot pitchers have made a start during Wooster’s 10-game winning streak. Josh Stidham (2.44, 42, 48.0) is 4-2 in eight starts with one complete game and leads the staff in strikeouts. Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads (3.38, 26, 50.2) is 4-2 in 10 appearances (seven starts) with one complete game (shutout) and leads the team in innings pitched. Ben Cerami, Zach Klein and Colin Meinzer anchor the bullpen with 10, 9 and 8 appearances, respectively. Cerami (4.15, 12, 8.2) is 0-0 with one save, Klein (2.51, 9, 14.1) is 2-0 with two saves, and Meinzer (7.36, 15, 14.2) is 1-0.
Wittenberg (19-18, 5-11 NCAC) comes into Wednesday’s match-up after dropping three of four games to conference foe Ohio Wesleyan University over the weekend. The Tigers are led offensively by Matt Hampp (.380, 33, 3, 32), who leads the team in all three triple crown categories, as well as slugging (.504) and OBP (.439). Grant Goodwin (.374, 24, 0, 22) is tied with Hampp in OBP and tied with Brandon Reamon for a team-high 10 doubles. Reaman (.362, 18, 1, 38) leads the team in runs scored and stolen bases (nine).
On the mound, Matt Rupert (5.44, 32, 44.2) is 6-2 in 10 appearances (seven starts) with four complete games. Touby Bender (6.08, 12, 23.2) is 0-1 in seven appearances (five starts). Brad Prewitt and Ted Skalla have combined for 25 appearances out of the bullpen. Prewitt (2.70, 6, 13.1) is 1-0 in 13 appearances with two saves and owns the Tigers’ best ERA. Skalla (6.94, 10, 11.2) is 1-2 in 12 appearances.
Following Wednesday’s game, the Student Princes will host John Carroll University in an OAC doubleheader on Saturday.