Springfield, Ohio- The DePauw baseball team broke out of its recent offensive struggles, putting up 10 runs in a pair of victories over Wittenberg, Sunday afternoon at Carleton Davidson Stadium.

DePauw improved to 5-10 on the year and moved to 2-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. Wittenberg dropped to 3-7 overall and 0-2 in the NCAC.

In game one, DePauw got off to a fast start, scoring in four of the first five innings. Johnny Gbur singled up the middle in the first and promptly stole second. He advanced to third when Ryan Grippo reached on a throwing error. Lucas Italiano walked and Gbur stole home as the catcher attempted to make a play at second. With two outs Reid Pittard delivered a two-RBI double to left, giving DePauw a 3-0 lead.

Mike Hammel reached on a one-out walk in the third and moved to second on Cory Meixner's sacrifice bunt. Following a walk to Pittard, Collin Henry hit a shot to left center, plating Hammel and Pittard.

Matt Dorsett earned a walk in the top of the fourth and stole second with two outs. Grippo doubled to center, scoring Dorsett and extending DePauw's lead to 6-0.

Wittenberg scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth helped by two bases loaded walks and an error. Josh Kaplan singled with two outs and moved to second on Timmy Bates single to right. Erik Olson reached on an error to load the bases and Corey Farnbauch and Aaron Patrick drew back-to-back walks, cutting the deficit to 6-2.

DePauw regained its six-run advantage in the top half of the fifth on three hits and a sacrifice fly. Hammel was hit by a pitch, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Pittard hit a sacrifice fly to center, plating Hammel. With two outs, Henry singled up the middle and Joey Plesac followed with a single to left. Dorsett collected the Tigers' third-straight single, plating Henry from second.

In the bottom of the sixth, Wittenberg again capitalized on a DePauw error to inch closer to the lead. Bates reached on an error at short and moved to third on Franbauch's single to right. With two outs, Will Cousins and Zac Wilson both tallied RBI singles.

Leading 8-4, DePauw added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Pittard drew a lead-off walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Henry followed with an RBI single to center, but was caught trying to steal two bases on a wild pitch. Plesac earned a one-out walk and moved to second on a passed ball. After Dorsett was hit by a pitch, Gbur doubled down the line, plating Plesac from second.

Jack Peck notch his first victory on the year, tossing 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts, five hits, two walks and three runs (none earned). Nick Horvath collected the final five outs, allowing four hits with one strikeout.

Frank Sullivan took the loss, going 4.2 innings with six strikeouts, five walks, seven hits and six earned runs.

In the nightcap, Wittenberg jumped out to a three-run lead, knocking in three runs on four consecutive hits in the bottom of the second. The host Tigers would add runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but would be unable to push another run across.

Trailing 3-0, DePauw put together a two-out rally in the third, starting with Grippo's single up the middle. Italiano walked and Hammel delivered an RBI single to center, giving the Tigers' their first run. In the top of the sixth, Hammel earned a lead-off walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Ryan Hurston singled to right and Tate Stewart beat out a throw at first, avoiding a double play and plating Hammel from third.

DePauw sent 11 batters to the plate, exploding for a seven-run eighth inning. Hammel singled to left and advanced to third on Clifford Chi's double. Hurston doubled to center, plating Hammel and Chi. Stewart reached on an error at short and Henry followed with a walk to load the bases. Wittenberg averted one threat, getting Rick Okazaki to ground into a fielder's choice, retiring Hurston at the plate.

With one out in the eighth, Gbur stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. Gbur hammered a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam, giving DePauw an 8-5 lead. The inning continued as Grippo reached on an error and Italiano walked. Grippo was caught stealing third, but Hammel delivered a two-out double to left center, plating Italiano from first.

Henry picked up a two-out single in the top of the ninth and Okazaki tripled to center, extending the Tigers' lead to 10-5. Hammel picked up the win in relief, going five innings with just three hits. DePauw starter Wyatt Spector pitched four innings, giving up five runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts.

Jordan Hitt took the loss for Wittenberg, going 1.1 innings with five runs on four hits and one strikeout.

Gbur paced DePauw with four hits and five RBIs on the day, while Henry added four hits and three RBIs and Grippo and Hammel each tacked on three hits.

The Tigers are back in action on Wednesday, April 1, when they play Anderson (Ind.) at Victory Field in Indianapolis starting at 6:00 p.m.