TIFFIN, Ohio—The Heidelberg University baseball team pounded out 18 hits on its way to a 14-6 victory today over non-conference foe Wittenberg University at Peaceful Valley in Tiffin, Ohio. The win secured the 13th consecutive 20-win season under head coach Matt Palm, who earned his 400th win in yesterday's triumph over The College of Wooster.
Heidelberg (20-15, 7-7 Ohio Athletic Conference) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior left fielder Ross Pruitt (Elletsville, Ind./Edgewood) scored on a run batted-in ground out by freshman first baseman Eric Monroe (Chagrin Falls/Kenston).
The Berg then jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third as it rapped out six hits, including doubles by senior right fielder Ricardo Lizcano (Toledo/Start) and junior catcher Jordan Martin (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), and upped its lead to 10-1 in the fourth, with three more runs on consecutive RBI singles by senior center fielder Elvin Williams (Euclid) and freshman designated hitter Steve Kisan (Lakewood/St. Edward) and a sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Andrew Zenczak (Brusnwick).
A two-run home run by pinch hitter Tyler Grau in the Wittenberg (19-19, 5-11 North Coast Athletic Conference) sixth got the Tigers on the board, but Lizcano came back in the bottom half of the frame to launch a homer of his own—his school career record 33rd—and a RBI single by Zenczak moved the Student Princes out to a 13-2 edge.
Wittenberg rallied for three runs in the seventh and plated one in the ninth on a RBI single by Matt Hampp.
Freshman third baseman Trevor Oldham (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) added another 'Berg run in the eighth when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Five Student Princes had multi-hit games, led by Pruitt, who was 3-for-4 with a double and three runs and recorded his team-high 17th multi-hit game. Lizcano, who walked twice to up his school-career-record total to 104, knocked in a pair of runs and scored three. Kisan was 3-for-3 with a double, one RBI and one run. Williams was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run and Zenczak was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs.
Senior right hander Sly Nino (Willard) tossed a season-high 6.0 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits while striking out four and walking three to earn the win and improve to 2-0. Freshman righty Bryan Peters (Cuyahoga Falls/Woodridge), junior righty Teddy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll), freshman righty Travis Gray (Markle, Ind./Norwell) and senior righty Daniel Brannum (Jamestown/Greenview) each pitched in relief.
Hampp led the Tigers at the plate with a 3-for-5 day with two RBI and one run.
Touby Bender pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and suffered the loss to fall to 0-2.
The Berg will wrap up its four-game homestand Saturday when it hosts John Carroll University in a key Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader at 1 p.m.