CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (May 14, 2023) – The top-seeded Denison University baseball team captured its fourth consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament crown on Sunday following a 7-2 victory over second-seeded Wittenberg University. With the win, Denison again receives the NCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Regionals.

In addition to the win, Denison joined the 2000 Ohio Wesleyan University baseball team as the only NCAC teams with an undefeated regular season and an undefeated tournament run.

Wittenberg scored in the top of the first inning as after back-to-back singles to lead of the game, a wild pitch on strike three loaded the bases with two outs before a full-count walk brought in the first run of the game.

Denison quickly evened up the score as Eric Colaco led off the bottom of the first with a double to left field before a one-out RBI-double by Charlie Glennon on a hard-hit ball to shortstop to score Colaco.

The bottom of the first for the Big Red then continued as heads up base running by Glennon allowed him to steal third base on a low first pitch on the next at bat by Ari Fierer, and that paid off as an RBI-groundout to third base by Fierer scored Glennon to make it a 2-1 Denison lead after the first inning.

Denison's starting pitcher, Charlie Fleming (10-1), came back out and set the Tigers down in order in both the second and third innings and did not allow a hit for a stretch of 14 straight outs.

Josh Bohn led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single to left field before a perfectly executed hit-and-run allowed Wilson to advance to third on a single through the right side by Owen Wilson.

Alex Vasquez then made it three straight singles to open up the bottom half of the inning as his hit to right field allowed Bohn to score and make it a 3-1 Big Red lead.

After Fleming struck out the first two Tiger hitters in the fifth inning, a single through the left side followed by a stolen base and an RBI-single up the middle allowed Wittenberg to try and keep pace with Denison down 3-2.

The Big Red offense, meanwhile, allowed the Tigers to hang around after a double play on a fly out ended the bottom of the fifth inning before another double play on a pop out on a bunt attempt in the bottom of the sixth.

In the top of the seventh, however, George Viebrock came in to pitch for the third time in the tournament and got a fly out to left field and a groundout to second base to strand the tying run on second base and the go-ahead run on first.

Noah Leib then led off the bottom of the seventh with a double down the right field line before advancing to third base on a wild pitch and scoring on the ensuing RBI-single through the left side by Glennon.

The big blow by Denison was a two-run home run off the scoreboard in left field by Colaco in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Big Red were not finished yet, however, as Leib followed Colaco's home run with a walk, stole second base and scored on a two-out RBI-single to center field by Fierer.

Glennon led the Big Red with three hits (3-for-5) and two stolen bases in the championship game and was one of three Denison players with two RBI's.

Colaco finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI's, a home run, a double and a stolen base while Leib was 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs, a double and a steal.

The final Big Red player with two hits during the championship game was Vasquez (2-for-4).

On the mound, Fleming finished with 6.1 innings pitched allowing five hits, two runs and two walks while striking out eight.

Viebrock then finished off the final 2.2 innings allowing two hits, no runs and no walks to earn his sixth save of the season.

Viebrock was named the NCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after pitching all three games in the tournament and picking up a pair of saves. He did not allow a single run or walk and gave up just four hits while striking out six batters in 6.2 innings.

Other Big Red players named to the NCAC All-Tournament Team in addition to Viebrock included Bohn, Colaco, Felming and Leib. Bohn hit 4-for-8 (.500) with three runs scored, two walks and a stolen base. Colaco was 6-for-15 (.400) with five runs scored, four RBI's, two stolen bases, a home run, a triple and a double. Leib was 6-for-11 (.545) with six runs scored, four RBI's, four walks, three stolen bases, two doubles and a home run. Lastly, Fleming earned the win in the championship game and totaled nine strikeouts across 9.1 innings and two starts in the tournament.

Denison moves to 34-8 on the season while Wittenberg drops to 32-10. The NCAA will announce the 2023 NCAA Tournament field on Monday, May 15, at 12 p.m. with a live selection show airing on NCAA.com. In 2022, the Big Red were selected to host an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history.