The Wittenberg University baseball program has been “building up” to this moment.
Those were the words second-year coach Mitchell Griffiths used to describe the rise of the program, which reached the top 25 for the first time in 30 years this season. Wittenberg averaged 27 victories over the past five seasons after averaging 13.6 victories in five seasons before the shortened pandemic season of 2020.
With two victories at Wabash College on Wednesday, April 22, Wittenberg improved to 26-6.
“It's been awesome,” Griffiths said. “We had some key losses (on the roster), and we knew we were going to be young and inexperienced in some areas, but we still really liked the team. They do such a good job of playing together and playing for each other. That's been the special thing to watch over the course of the year more than anything.”
Wittenberg ranks 16th in the American Baseball Coaches Association poll this week and 19th in the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
The top-ranked team from the North Coast Athletic Conference is No. 1 Denison (30-1), which has won a school-record 29 games in a row. It is 10-0 in the conference and leads Wittenberg (9-1) by one game entering a series this weekend at Carleton Davidson Stadium in Springfield. The teams play at noon and 3 p.m. Saturday.
Denison finished 41-7 last season and played in the Division III World Series for the first time. It has won the last six NCAC tournaments.
“It's a great opportunity,” Griffiths said. “Those guys do such a good job over there. They've got great players. We really respect their coaching staff. What they built over there is something that programs look to do, and coach (Mike) Deegan is one of the best in the country. We're just excited for the opportunity to have them come into town and have a ranking next to our name as well. Hopefully, we play well and show that we belong with the big guys in the country because that's our goal.”
Wittenberg leads the nation with a .387 batting average. Alex Nemunaitis (.465) is the team’s top hitter. That would rank as the fifth-highest average in school history.
Wittenberg hit .335 as a team last season with 51 home runs in 41 games. It has 39 home runs in 32 games this season.
“Our big thing is we just want to be super athletic,” Griffiths said. “We want to be able to have guys that can beat you in different ways, whether that's leaving the ballpark (with a home run), or, hey, we're going to hit a single and then we've got the legs to steal second and create some pressure on the defense. We want to have that nonstop pressure, rather than just waiting around to hit the big fly. We still have the players who can hit home runs, but we’ve stolen more bases this year than in the previous two. That's helping us be more dynamic as an offense.”
Nemunaitis is a team captain along with senior pitchers Andrew Rust (6-0, 1.91 ERA) and Zach Rust (0-1, 4.58 ERA), twin brothers from Dublin Coffman High School.
“Andrew's been a starter for us for four years,” Griffiths said. “Zach has really had a breakout year. He's been injured for two years, and he's finally back on the field and having a really good year out of our bullpen.”
Another captain is senior pitcher Mikey Eickhoff (3-0, 3.38), of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.
“He’s having another good year out of our bullpen,” Griffiths said. “I think the whole senior class does a really good job of understanding that everybody's a part of the success of the program right now. Everybody has a role, whether you're a defensive replacement, a bullpen guy, a pinch runner, an everyday starter or a guy that doesn't play at all.”
Griffiths took over as interim coach in January 2025, just before the start of the season, when Brian McGee resigned after eight seasons. Griffiths spent the previous two seasons as the program's assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator, and pitching coach.
Griffiths is a 2014 graduate of Olentangy Liberty High School and a 2018 graduate of Alderson Broaddus University. He had previous coaching stops at Adrian College in Michigan and Coker College in South Carolina.
“When the job at Wittenberg opened up,” Griffiths said, “my wife and I were engaged at the time and knew we wanted to get back to Ohio at some point. Her family lives in Toledo. Mine still lives in Columbus. Even being 45 minutes away in Columbus, I had never been on campus at Wittenberg. I got here, interviewed and got offered the job. I knew it was a really good fit. I love it here. I was able to take over last year and get the interim tag removed, and it's been a real special experience for not only me but my family as well.”