Baseball
Baseball: Smith's complete game leads Denison to split with Wabash
Park Smith fired a complete game shutout in game three of the four games series helping the Big Red to a split with Wabash College.
Date: April 6, 2008
Location: CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind.
Sophomore left hander Park Smith (Warren, N.J./The Pingry School) fired a complete game shutout in Sunday's opener helping Denison to a 4-0 victory. Wabash rebounded in game two for a 2-1 win to force a split in the four-game series in Crawfordsville, Ind.
Smith was dominate in the opener as he allowed seven hits and two walks over seven innings while striking out eight batters. He got a little help from his offense in the top of the first when Danny Pritz (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) drew a lead-off walk. Justin Held (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) reached on an error by the Wabash third baseman and Tim LaBolt (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) would drive in Pritz with a sacrifice fly to left field. With two outs in the inning Aidan Lucas (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) would drive in Held to give Smith a little room to work but the second-year starter who already has a no-hitter under his belt, would not need it.
Wabash's Joey Nizer would go on to hold Denison to just four hits on the day and the Big Red would not score again until the top of the seventh. Nizer also fanned eight batters and walked three. He also hit three batters.
The win moves Smith's record to 3-2 and lowers his ERA to 3.97.
In the second game Denison got another strong pitching performance from freshman Nick Smith (Mirror Lake, N.H./Holderness School) but the rookie was one-upped by Wabash's Bryan VanDuyn who went six innings and allowed just one run off eight hits while striking out three. Keegan Leckrone pitched the seventh inning to earn his second career save.
Denison was held scoreless until the sixth inning when Smith led off the inning with a double. Tony Christopher (Moreland Hills, Ohio/Chagrin Falls) followed with an infield single and Kevin Teague (Fairfax Station, Va./St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) followed that with an RBI single to left center field. After a Len Mills (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) ground out moved Christopher and Teague into scoring position, VanDuyn would get a strike out and a fly out to get out of the jam.
In the Denison seventh an error by the Wabash second baseman would allow LaBolt to reach base and pinch runner Kumar Caughey (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham) would advance to second on a wild pitch where he would eventually be stranded following a strikeout by Leckrone.
Denison (17-8, 8-4 NCAC West) will face Otterbein on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and will host Heidelberg at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday (April 10) at 1 p.m.