CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (May 12, 2024) – The No. 2 nationally-ranked and second-seeded Denison University baseball team opened the day with a tall task in front of them. The Big Red needed to win twice against top-seeded Wittenberg University to capture their conference-record fifth-straight North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship. The Big Red first won 9-3 to force a winner-take-all game seven, and proceeded to run-rule the Tigers by a score of 17-7 in seven innings in the championship game.
 
Game 1 (Denison 9, Wittenberg 3):

• Needing to get off to a good start in game one against Austin Luther (4-3), who earned the save for the Tigers in the game between Denison and Wittenberg on Friday, Jack Lutte led off the game with a single to left center field.
• Denison went on to load the bases with one out after a walk and a hit by pitch by Luther, setting up a two-run double down the right field line by the designated hitter, Jack Rollo.
• Then with two outs, a two-run single past the shortstop by Cade Nowik made it a four-run top of the first inning for the Big Red.
• A leadoff single for both teams in the second inning led to a run for both teams.
• Denison's run in the top of the second inning came thanks to a leadoff single to left field by Alex Vasquez, and then in the top of the fourth inning, Vasquez again started the frame off with a single, this time to second base, before a three-run home run to left center field by Eric Colaco to widen Denison's lead to 8-1.
• It was the third home run of the tournament for Colaco, who added an RBI-groundout in the fifth inning and finished 2-for-6 with four RBI's and two runs scored.
• Lutte and Noah Leib were both 2-for-4 with a double batting around Colaco in the lineup while in the No. 9 spot, Vasquez was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk and reached base in each of his first four plate appearances.
• Starter Peter Lemke (8-0) pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the first, third, fifth, sixth and eighth innings and seemed to get stronger as the game went on. He finished with a line of eight innings pitched allowing eight hits, three runs, zero walks and seven strikeouts.

 
Game 2 – Championship Game (Denison 17, Wittenberg 7):

• Denison scored three unearned runs on two Tiger errors in the bottom of the first inning and added four more unearned runs in the bottom of the second to take a 7-1 lead after two innings.
• Denison made it 9-2 in the bottom of the third inning as Owen Wilson walked with one out, stole both second and third base and scored on an RBI-groundout by Vasquez before Lutte drew a two-out walk and then scored after three wild pitches by Wittenberg's Kyle Mahon.
• In the bottom of the fourth, a leadoff hit by pitch by Erik Sundgren led to another run for the Big Red as Sundgren stole second base, advanced to third on another wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Colin Ravin.
• That made it 10-5 Big Red after four innings, and then three straight walks by Colaco, Leib and Jake Welsch loaded the bases with one out for Sundgren in the bottom of the fifth, and Sundgren delivered a two-run single through the right side before Nowik scored Welsch with a sacrifice fly to left field to make it a 13-5 Denison advantage.
• A leadoff single through the right side by Lutte, a walk by Colaco and a bunt single by Leib loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth, and Welsch singled to left field to score Lutte before Sundgren's second two-run hit in as many innings, this time a double to right center field, made it 16-7.
• Needing just one run to claim the championship in the bottom of the seventh, Lutte led off with a hit by pitch, advanced to third on a one-out single through the right side by Leib, and then scored on a single up the middle by Welsch.
• The Wittenberg pitching staff finished with nine walks, seven wild pitches and four hit by pitches in the championship game.
• Each of Denison's top-three spots in the lineup scored four runs while the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 hitters each had three hits.
• Lutte and Colaco were both 2-for-4 with four runs scored in the top-two spots in the lineup while Leib was 3-for-3 with four runs scored and three walks in the No. 3 spot.
• Welsch was 3-for-5 with four RBI's and two runs scored in the No. 4 spot while Sundgren was 3-for-4 with six RBI's and three stolen bases in the No. 5 spot.

 
NCAC All-Tournament Team:

• Eric Colaco (MVP): Hit .409 (9-for-22) with 11 runs scored, 10 RBI's, five walks, five stolen bases, three home runs and three doubles across five games in the tournament. Was a combined 4-for-10 with six runs scored, five RBI's and a home run during the final day and was 2-for-4 with four runs scored, two walks and an RBI-double in the championship game.
• Noah Leib: Hit .500 (10-for-20) with nine runs scored, six RBI's, five walks, two home runs, two doubles and two stolen bases. Was a combined 5-for-7 with five runs scored and five walks during the final day and was 3-for-4 with four runs scored, three total walks and two intentional walks in the championship.
• Peter Lemke: Picked up the win and threw eight innings allowing eight hits, three runs, zero walks and seven strikeouts to help the Big Red force the winner-take-all game seven.
• Jack Lutte: Hit .476 (10-for-21) and scored 10 runs from the top spot in the lineup while adding three walks and two home runs. Was a combined 4-for-8 during the final day and was 2-for-4 with four runs scored in the championship game.
• Erik Sundgren: Hit .421 (8-for-19) with seven RBI's, three runs scored, two doubles, two walks, and a perfect 7-for-7 mark in stolen bases. Was a combined 4-for-8 with five stolen bases during the final day and was 3-for-4 with three steals and three two-RBI hits in the championship game.

Denison improves to 39-6 overall this season, tying the program record for wins in one season set in 2019. Wittenberg, meanwhile, falls to 26-17.

The NCAA will announce the 2024 NCAA Tournament field on Monday, May 13, at 12 p.m. with a live selection show airing on NCAA.com. The Big Red have been selected to host an NCAA Regional in each of the last two seasons.

For more information on the 2024 NCAA DIII baseball tournament selections and tournament dates, please click HERE.