Box Score CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – Sophomores Matt Kittelberger (Massillon, Ohio) and Matt Meihls (Fort Wayne, Ind.) combined to toss a two-hitter and Ohio Dominican's baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Wheeling Jesuit with a 4-0 victory Sunday at V.A. Memorial Stadium.
Kittelberger tossed a career-high 7.0 innings and struck out four while allowing just the two hits. He threw 46 of his 78 pitches for strikes. His previous career high in innings was 4.0 last year.
Meihls faced the minimum in the final two frames and notched a strikeout.
ODU (3-0) got on the board in the third inning. With two outs, junior Kyle Burson (Brunswick, Ohio) singles and stole second, then came in to score as sophomore Cody Paterniti (Chardon, Ohio) singled on a 3-2 pitch to left field.
The Cardinals (0-3) threatened to tie the game in the top of the sixth, but lined into a double play with a runner on second to keep it at 1-0, and the Panthers increased their advantage in the bottom half of the frame.
Burson started the inning with a walk, and came in to score as junior Tony Evans (Medway, Ohio) hit a two-out single to right field. Evans then stole second and scampered home as sophomore Lee Sponseller (Mason, Ohio) had a run-scoring single into right.
ODU tacked on an insurance run in the seventh. Sophomore Justin Childers (Pickerington, Ohio) socked a leadoff triple to center field and senior Jacob Horsley (Thornville, Ohio) followed with an RBI basehit to center to make it 4-0.
Meihls induced an inning-ending double play grounder in the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the victory.
ODU tallied eight hits in the game, with Childers the lone player to finish with two. Burson scored two runs to also lead the offense.
The Panther pitching staff allowed just three hits in the last two games of the series against the Cardinals. In 23 innings of work, ODU yielded just 11 total hits (.151 batting average against).
Ohio Dominican returns to the diamond on Saturday, March 5 as the Panthers take on No. 10 Minnesota State in Orlando, Fla.
Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu
