Junior Aidan Lucas hit a two-out grand slam to propel DU to a 17-10 victory over Wittenberg in game two of Sunday's doubleheader. Lucas also recorded his eighth save of the season in the win, tying a school record. The junior finished the day with 10 RBIs.

The Denison baseball team recorded a pair of victories to close out their four-game series with the Wittenberg University Tigers on Sunday afternoon in Granville. The Big Red shutout their North Coast Athletic Conference rivals 9-0 in game one and rallied to pull out a 17-10 comeback victory in the nightcap.

A phenomenal pitching display was the story of game one as sophomore right hander Bob Giarratani (Winthrop, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) tossed a complete-game shutout en route to his second win of the year. Giarratani scattered just five hits with two strikeouts and one base on balls. In addition to his performance on the mound, the sophomore made outstanding plays in the field including a bare-handed grab to get out of a fourth inning jam.

The Big Red bats were just as hot as their pitching as they pounded out 14 hits. After building up a 5-0 lead over the first four innings, DU tacked on four more tallies which included a three-run home run by junior Park Smith (Warren, N.J./The Pingry School) in the fifth.

Senior Justin Held (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two stolen bases while Smith finished 3-for-4 with a home run, double, four RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base. Junior Alex Horn (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) scattered three hits and sophomore Danny Pritz (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) crossed the dish three times.

Trying to pull out a come-from-behind victory in the second game of the day, junior Aidan Lucas (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) capped off a seven-run fifth inning with grand slam home run that gave Denison their first lead of the ball game 11-10. The Big Red managed their seven runs on just two hits as the Tiger pitching staff issued five free passes.

Lucas then took the mound with one out in the sixth to try to earn his record tying eighth save of the season. The junior fire baller retired the first two batter he faced via fly out to center field and ground out to third.

After Denison plated six insurance runs in the bottom half of the sixth the stage was set for Lucas to complete the series sweep. After a fielding error put the leadoff hitter aboard, Lucas got Zach Spring to hit into a double play and Jason Haunty to ground out to shortstop Andy Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore).

The save was Lucas' eighth of the season and tied the Denison single-season mark set by Matt Streicher back in 2002. At the dish, the junior went 2.for-3 with seven RBIs and three runs scored. Rookie Adam Bodary earned the win in his first collegiate appearance. Bodary allowed just two hits and fanned one in 1.1 innings of work.

Bill Sanders (Chapel, Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs while Horn and Peter Krieger (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) both went 2-for-2. Horn scored twice and drove in another and Krieger legged out a double, drove in a run and scored once. Johnson finished the game with a base hit, two RBIs and two runs.

Denison improves to 15-9 on the year and a perfect 6-0 in NCAC West Division play. The Big Red play their next six games away from Granville starting with a doubleheader at Washington & Jefferson on Tuesday. First pitch for the twinbill is slated for 5 p.m.

Game One Box [htm]

Game Two Box [htm]