Undefeated heading into Wednesday’s game against Northwestern, the Whitko baseball team suffered its first setback of the season, falling 9-0 at home. The Wildcats struggled to get much going offensively throughout the game, allowing the Tigers to extend their lead over the course of the contest.
Whitko starter Daton Day was dialed in on the mound from his very first pitch. He struck out the side in order, all looking, to execute a flawless first inning on the mound. He was able to retire two of those hitters on a dazzling curveball that froze the Northwestern hitters in the box. Outside of a walk by Riley Harman, the Wildcats went down quietly in the bottom of the frame, resulting in a drama-free first inning.
Day got into a bit of trouble in the second, putting two men on via walks and then giving up his first run of the game on a single by Sam Jones. The Tigers had the opportunity to get even more with the bases loaded and just one out, but Day and his defense prevented that from happening.
The Wildcats had a chance to even things up their next time up, but ran themselves off of the basepaths. The first out of the inning was made on an attempt to steal the second, while the final was made at the plate as the team tried to use a little trickery to steal home and a run.

    Sophomore pitcher Daton Day delivers a pitch during Wednesday evening's home game against Northwestern...Nieter

Northwestern added to its lead in the top of the third inning, as a leadoff double by Michael Arrick put a man on board for Teegan Helmle. He got a hold of one, sending the ball over the center field fence for a two-run home run that made it 3-0. Whitko was unable to provide much resistance with its bats, going down in order to end the frame.
Day was able to settle back in on the mound to begin the fourth, pitching a 1-2-3 inning to give the opportunity back to his hitters. Despite having two men on base and only one out, the Wildcats continued to struggle at the plate. They were held scoreless for the fourth straight inning and were still searching for their first hit of the night.
Davin Day took over for his brother in the top of the fifth inning, and ended up allowing one more run to come across. A one-out walk drawn by Hayden Cook paid dividends as he would come across to score on a groundout by Nate Correll.
Whitko finally found itself in the hit column in the bottom of the fifth, as Chandler Cox led the inning off with a double into center. However, he’d end the inning stranded on third base as three straight strikeouts by the home side ended the rally before it could even begin.
The sixth inning is where things got away from the Wildcats. Northwestern plated five runs in the frame, more than doubling their lead. Two different pitchers were needed to get the three outs, as four different Tigers had RBIs in the inning. After being shut down in order once again in the bottom of the sixth, Whitko now needed to make up some serious ground with just three outs left.
After pitching a scoreless top of the seventh, the Wildcats took their final turn at the plate, looking to make something happen. They weren’t able to muster much, dropping their first game of the spring.
Whitko (6-1, 0-1 Three Rivers Conference) is at Bellmont on Saturday.