Game 13 - May 29, 2000
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Grand Chute, Wisconsin - Scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, the University of St. Thomas (Minn) held on to claim a 4-3, extra-inning win over Chapman University in an elimination game of the NCAA Division III College World Series Monday evening at Fox Cities Stadium.
With the win, St. Thomas (36-12) is in the driver's seat to claim its first national championship in baseball in just its second-ever appearance in the College World Series. The Tommies finished second in the nation last season. St. Thomas will face Montclair State University (N.J. 40-7-1) on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Should the 4-0 Tommies win over the 3-1 Red Hawks in the 3:30 game, St. Thomas will win the national championship. If Montclair State wins, the two teams would play again at 7 p.m., with the winner claiming the national crown.
"I think that the games have turned out in our favor, of course, but we're not pounding the ball," said St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning. "But we're getting good pitching, we're laying down some pretty good bunts and doing just enough to outscore the other team. We could consider ourselves real lucky."
Chapman finished 33-12 overall and was eliminated with its second loss in the double-elimination format tournament.
St. Thomas put the eventual game-winning run across in the top of the 10th, when leadoff hitter Brad Bonine reached base on a single. He moved to second on an infield groundout, then moved to third when a balk was called against Chapman relief pitcher Eric Albright. A sacrifice fly to center field by freshman Tom Carroll plated Bonine with the go-ahead run.
"I was just looking for something to hit and the first thing I saw, I just put the bat on the ball," Carroll said. "I got it out to center, deep enough where we could get in the run."
"This is his first at-bats in the region and in the World Series," Denning said. "Tom is a freshman and he hasn't played a lot, but we said, he's a good hitter and we said, 'Well, you're going to play one game.' He did and he drove in the game-winning RBI."
St. Thomas freshman pitcher Jon Marzlof, making his first pitching appearance of the World Series, then shut down the Panther side in order to secure the victory for the Tommies.
The Panthers tied the game with a ninth-inning rally against Marzlof. Catcher Tony Serna, hitting eighth, was hit by a pitch, and was relieved by pinch runner Josh Dickey. Dickey moved around to third on a sacrifice bunt and hit by Brandon Maciel, and then Adam Olow's sharp single up the middle brought in Dickey to tie the game at 3-3 and send it to extra innings.
Down 2-0 early, the Tommies stormed back to take the lead in the seventh inning by manufacturing runs from the bottom of its order against Panther reliever Clint Blevens, while taking advantage of Chapman errors. No. 7 hitter Tony Wolverton led off the inning with a single, and pinch hitter Matt Buzzell walked. John Frein laid down a bunt on the third-base side, but Albright's throw from third sailed wide of first, and both Wolverton and Buzzell scored to tie the game, with Frein ending up on third.
"I probably threw it too soon. I just threw it away, it happens," Albright said. With one out, Jake Mauer then laid down another bunt along the first-base line. The suicide squeeze ball hugged the baseline and never rolled foul, allowing Frein to score the go-ahead run.
"It was an outside pitch. I just tried to keep my feet in the box and get the bat on it," Mauer said.
Chapman opened the scoring in the third inning, when a double to the left-center gap by Adam Olow drove in Brandon Maciel. Chapman added another run in the fifth, when No. 9 hitter Bobby Calderon doubled and came in to score on a single by Pat Stevens.
Neither starting pitcher figured in the final decision. St. Thomas starter Adam Iten, making his first series appearance, struck out one while allowing both Chapman runs. Meanwhile, Chapman starter Erik Maurer, also pitching for the first time in the tournament, threw six solid innings, allowing just five hits while striking out four and not allowing a runner past second base.
Marzlof relieved Iten in the sixth and claimed four strikeouts over the next five innings to pick up the win. Blevens relieved Maurer in the seventh for the Panthers, and after allowing the three runs in the seventh, kept the Tommies in check before being relieved by Albright in the 10th frame.
"In a game like that, you can look at a lot of little things that went that way or could have gone our way. You can go "if, and or but" all you want on those little things, but that's baseball. Those things happen," said Chapman head coach Rex Peters.
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St. Thomas (Minn) 4 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Brad Bonine cf............ 5 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 Jake Mauer 2b............. 5 0 0 1 0 1 2 3 Tom Carroll 3b............ 4 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 Scott Christiansen dh..... 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 Paul Rafferty 1b.......... 4 0 2 0 0 1 13 3 Steve Aronson lf.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 Tony Wolverton rf......... 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 Kyle Olson c.............. 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Matt Buzzell ph........... 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Tom Wilberg c............. 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 John Frein ss............. 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 5 Adam Iten p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jon Marzolf p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals.................... 36 4 8 2 2 5 30 16 Chapman 3 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Brandon Maciel dh......... 3 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 Byran Lounsbury 3b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Adam Olow cf.............. 5 0 3 2 0 2 4 0 Pat Stevens lf............ 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 Eric Albright 3b/p........ 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 Michael Caira rf/1b....... 5 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 Scott Montgomery 1b....... 3 0 1 0 0 1 9 1 Jude Chavez ph/rf......... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Miller 2b........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 Alex Taylor ph/2b......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Tony Serna c.............. 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 Josh Dickey pr............ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Menkin 2b........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Bruce Calderon ss......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 5 5 Eric Murer p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Clint Blevins p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 39 3 12 3 2 5 30 18 Score by innings: R H E ----------------------------------------------- St. Thomas (Minn) 000 000 300 1 - 4 8 0 Chapman 001 010 001 0 - 3 12 3 ----------------------------------------------- E - Albright; J Miller; Calderon. DP - St. Thomas 1; Chapman 3. LOB - St. Thomas 6; Chapman 10. 2B - Olow; Calderon. SB - Maciel. CS - Aronson. SH - Frein; Calderon. SF - Carroll. St. Thomas (Minn) IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Adam Iten........... 5.0 8 2 2 2 1 21 23 Jon Marzolf......... 5.0 4 1 1 0 4 18 20 Chapman IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Eric Murer.......... 6.0 5 0 0 1 4 23 24 Clint Blevins....... 3.0 2 3 1 1 1 10 12 Eric Albright....... 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 3 4 Win - Marzolf 5-0. Loss - Albright 0-1. Save - None. BK - Albright. HBP - by Marzolf (Serna). Umpires - Home:Sill 1st:Leparik 2nd:Collins 3rd:Drouches Start: 6:57pm Time: 2:42 Attendance: 972
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Score by innings: R H E ----------------------------------------------- St. Thomas (Minn) 000 000 300 1 - 4 8 0 Chapman 001 010 001 0 - 3 12 3 ----------------------------------------------- St. Thomas (Minn) inning 1 Bonine flied out to rf. Mauer grounded out to 2b. Carroll struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 1 Maciel walked. Olow struck out swinging. P Stevens flied out to lf. Maciel stole second, failed pickoff attempt. Albright singled to pitcher; Maciel advanced to third. Caira flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 2 Christiansen lined out to ss. Rafferty singled to right center. Aronson reached on an error by ss; Rafferty advanced to second. Wolverton grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Aronson out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 2 Montgomery grounded out to 3b. J Miller grounded out to 3b. Serna fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 3 K Olson grounded out to ss. Frein reached on an error by 2b. Bonine grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Frein out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 3 Calderon popped up to 2b. Maciel singled to center field. Olow doubled to left center, RBI; Maciel scored. P Stevens singled to right field; Olow advanced to third. Albright grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; P Stevens out on the play. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 4 Mauer struck out looking. Carroll grounded out to 3b. Christiansen singled to left field. Rafferty singled to right field; Christiansen advanced to second. Aronson flied out to cf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Chapman inning 4 Caira popped up to 2b. Montgomery singled to left field. J Miller grounded out to 2b; Montgomery advanced to second. Serna grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 5 Wolverton singled to left field. K Olson flied out to cf. Frein singled to third base, bunt; Wolverton advanced to second. Bonine struck out looking. Mauer reached on a fielder's choice to third base; Frein advanced to second; Wolverton advanced to third. Carroll struck out looking. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB. Chapman inning 5 Calderon doubled to center field. Maciel walked. Olow singled to right field; Maciel advanced to second; Calderon advanced to third. P Stevens singled to center field, RBI; Olow advanced to second; Maciel advanced to third, out at home cf to 1b to c; Calderon scored. Albright flied out to rf. Caira flied out to cf. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 6 Christiansen walked. Rafferty reached on a fielder's choice; Christiansen out at second 1b to ss. Aronson grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Rafferty out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 6 Marzolf to p for Iten. Montgomery struck out looking. J Miller grounded out to ss. Serna out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 7 Blevins to p for Maurer. Wolverton singled to third base, bunt. Buzzell pinch hit for K Olson. Buzzell walked; Wolverton advanced to second. Frein reached on a throwing error by 3b, bunt, SAC, advanced to third; Buzzell scored, unearned; Wolverton scored. Bonine grounded out to p. Mauer grounded out to 2b unassisted, bunt, RBI; Frein scored, unearned. Carroll grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 7 Wilberg to c for Buzzell. Calderon out at first 1b to p. Maciel grounded out to ss. Olow struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 8 Christiansen grounded out to ss. Rafferty struck out swinging. Aronson singled to left field. Aronson out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 8 P Stevens grounded out to ss. Albright flied out to lf. Caira singled to center field. J Chavez pinch hit for Montgomery. J Chavez singled to left field; Caira advanced to second. A Taylor pinch hit for J Miller. A Taylor reached on a fielder's choice; J Chavez out at second ss unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 9 Caira to 1b. J Chavez to rf. A Taylor to 2b. Wolverton flied out to cf. Wilberg grounded out to ss. Frein grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 9 Serna hit by pitch. Dickey pinch ran for Serna. Calderon grounded out to c, bunt, SAC; Dickey advanced to second. Maciel singled to right field; Dickey advanced to third. Olow singled to second base, RBI; Maciel advanced to second; Dickey scored. P Stevens struck out swinging. Albright grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St. Thomas (Minn) inning 10 Lounsbury to 3b for Maciel. Albright to p. A Taylor to c. Menkin to 2b for Dickey. / for Blevins. Bonine singled to shortstop. Mauer grounded out to 2b; Bonine advanced to second. Bonine advanced to third on a balk. Carroll flied out to cf, SF, RBI; Bonine scored. Christiansen grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 10 Caira grounded out to ss. J Chavez grounded out to 1b unassisted. A Taylor struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003