Montclair State vs St. Thomas (Minn)

Game 14 - May 30, 2000


Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play

Montclair State hands St. Thomas first loss

The Red Hawks' victory forces a second, and deciding, championship game

Grand Chute, Wisconsin - Montclair State University pounded out 19 hits en route to a 13-3 win Tuesday over the University of St. Thomas at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at Fox Cities Stadium.

Because St. Thomas had yet to lose in the series, the Red Hawks' victory forced a second, and deciding, championship game. Montclair State advanced to Tuesday's championship round despite losing its opening game at the series to the State University of New York-Cortland. The defeat was the Tommies' worst loss of the season.

Greg Belson pitched the first seven innings to pick up the win. Bryan Toov took the loss for the St. Thomas.

The Red Hawks jumped on the Tommies in the opening inning. Montclair built a 3-0 lead with a run-scoring single by Craig Conway and a two-run homer by George Gallagher.

The Tommies countered with two runs in the second. Tony Wolverton singled to start the inning and Jon Guion followed with a walk. John Frein's two-run single sliced the lead to 3-2. That's as close as the Tommies would get.

Montclair added a run in the third when Frank Longo singled and scored on Marc Houser's single. The same duo hooked up to score another run in the fifth. Longo doubled to start the inning and scored on Houser's squeeze bunt for a 5-2 lead.

The Red Hawks made it 7-2 in the sixth when Conway singled and scored on Brian Ellerson's two-run homer.

Montclair broke the game open in the seventh with six runs on six hits, all singles, and two errors. Dave Wurst, Chris Baran both had run-scoring singles and Conway contributed a two-run single.

Belson allowed seven hits and two runs, while striking out seven and walking three to improve his record to 11-2. Toov, who won the opening game of the series for the Tommies, gave up 17 hits and 13 runs in 6 1-3 innings. Toov tied a series record held by many others for hits allowed by one pitcher in a game.


Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play

Boxscore - Montclair State vs St. Thomas (Minn)

Montclair State 13

Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
Dave Wurst 2b.............  6  2  2  1    0  0  2  4 
 Justin Cook 2b............ 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 
Chris Baran rf............  5  1  2  1    0  0  2  0 
 Gary Bracht ph/rf......... 1  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 
Craig Conway 3b...........  5  2  4  3    0  0  0  0 
 Adam Cerminaro pr/3b...... 1  1  0  0    0  1  0  3 
George Gallagher dh.......  5  2  3  2    0  0  0  0 
 Scott Allan ph............ 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  0 
Brian Ellerson ss.........  6  1  2  3    0  0  1  3 
Frank Longo cf............  3  2  2  0    2  0  0  0 
 Scott Clark cf............ 1  0  1  0    0  0  0  0 
Frank Francia 1b..........  2  1  1  0    1  1  6  0 
 George Becker ph/1b....... 1  0  0  1    1  0  4  0 
Marc Houser lf............  3  0  1  2    0  0  1  0 
 Sean Morrison ph/lf....... 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  0 
Jeff Schriber c...........  4  1  1  0    0  0  7  0 
 Michael Clifford ph/c..... 1  0  0  0    0  0  4  0 
Greg Belson p.............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1 
 Steve Trongone p.......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1 
 Jim Whalen p.............. 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 
Totals.................... 46 13 19 13    4  4 27 12 


St. Thomas (Minn) 3

Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
Brad Bonine cf............  4  0  1  0    0  1  2  0 
 Dan Novak ph.............. 1  0  1  0    0  0  0  0 
Jake Mauer 2b.............  4  0  3  0    1  0  3  2 
Nate Sundberg dh..........  4  1  1  0    1  2  0  0 
Paul Rafferty 1b..........  4  0  0  0    0  3 12  0 
Steve Aronson lf..........  4  0  0  0    0  2  2  0 
Tony Wolverton rf.........  4  1  3  1    0  0  3  0 
Jon Guion 3b..............  3  1  0  0    1  0  1  3 
Tom Wilberg c.............  2  0  1  0    0  0  2  0 
 Ryan Benson ph............ 1  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 
 Kyle Olson c.............. 1  0  0  0    0  0  2  0 
John Frein ss.............  2  0  1  2    0  0  0  5 
 Scott Christiansen ph..... 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  0 
 Matt Buzzell ss........... 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  1 
Brian Toov p..............  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1 
 Ben Blazovich p........... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0 
Totals.................... 36  3 11  3    3 10 27 12 



Score by innings:                      R  H  E
----------------------------------------------
Montclair State       301 012 600   - 13 19  0
St. Thomas (Minn)     020 000 010   -  3 11  2
----------------------------------------------

E - Wolverton; Frein. 
DP - Montclair St 2. LOB - Montclair St 12; St. Thomas 9. 
2B - Longo; Sundberg. 3B - Conway. 
HR - Gallagher; Ellerson. 
SB - Longo 2. 
SH - Francia; Houser. 

Montclair State        IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
Greg Belson.........  7.0   7   2   2   3   7  26 29 
Steve Trongone......  1.0   2   1   1   0   1   5  5 
Jim Whalen..........  1.0   2   0   0   0   2   5  5 


St. Thomas (Minn)      IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
Brian Toov..........  6.1  17  13  11   2   1  36 40 
Ben Blazovich.......  2.2   2   0   0   2   3  10 12 



Win - Belson 11-2.  Loss - Toov 8-5.  Save - None.
Umpires - Home:Leparik  1st:Topp  2nd:Drouches  3rd:Collins  
Start: 4:42pm   Time: 2:50   Attendance: 854

Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play

Play-by-Play - Montclair State vs St. Thomas (Minn)

Score by innings:                      R  H  E
----------------------------------------------
Montclair State       301 012 600   - 13 19  0
St. Thomas (Minn)     020 000 010   -  3 11  2
----------------------------------------------

Montclair State inning 1

  Wurst singled to center field.  Baran grounded out to 2b; Wurst advanced to
  second.  Conway tripled to left center, RBI; Wurst scored.  Gallagher
  homered to left field, 2 RBI; Conway scored.  Ellerson flied out to rf. 
  Longo walked.  Longo stole second.  Francia walked.  Houser grounded out to
  ss.  3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 1

  Bonine popped up to 1b.  Mauer singled to right field.  Sundberg walked;
  Mauer advanced to second.  Rafferty struck out swinging.  Aronson struck out
  looking.  0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Montclair State inning 2

  J Schriber grounded out to 2b.  Wurst grounded out to 1b unassisted.  Baran
  singled to right field.  Conway singled to right field; Baran advanced to
  second.  Gallagher flied out to lf.  0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 2

  Wolverton singled to left center.  Guion walked; Wolverton advanced to
  second.  Wilberg singled down the lf line, bunt; Guion advanced to second;
  Wolverton advanced to third.  Frein singled to right field, 2 RBI; Wilberg
  advanced to second; Guion scored; Wolverton scored.  Bonine struck out. 
  Mauer walked; Frein advanced to second; Wilberg advanced to third.  Sundberg
  struck out swinging.  Rafferty reached on a fielder's choice; Mauer advanced
  to second; Frein advanced to third; Wilberg out at home p to c.  2 runs, 3
  hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

Montclair State inning 3

  Ellerson grounded out to 1b unassisted.  Longo singled to right field. 
  Francia struck out swinging.  Longo stole second.  Houser singled to right
  center, RBI; Longo scored.  J Schriber singled to left field; Houser
  advanced to second.  Wurst flied out to cf.  1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 3

  Aronson struck out swinging.  Wolverton singled to third base, bunt.  Guion
  lined into double play 2b to 1b; Wolverton out on the play.  0 runs, 1 hit,
  0 errors, 0 LOB.

Montclair State inning 4

  Baran flied out to cf.  Conway grounded out to ss.  Gallagher singled to
  right center.  Ellerson reached on a fielder's choice; Gallagher out at
  second ss to 2b.  0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 4

  Wilberg grounded out to 2b.  Frein flied out to lf.  Bonine grounded out to
  ss.  0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Montclair State inning 5

  Longo doubled to right center.  Francia grounded out to p, bunt, SAC; Longo
  advanced to third.  Houser reached on a fielder's choice, bunt, SAC, RBI;
  Longo scored.  J Schriber reached on a fielder's choice; Houser out at
  second ss to 2b.  Wurst flied out to rf.  1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 5

  Mauer singled to left field.  Sundberg grounded into double play 2b to ss to
  1b; Mauer out on the play.  Rafferty struck out swinging.  0 runs, 1 hit, 0
  errors, 0 LOB.

Montclair State inning 6

  Baran flied out to rf.  Conway singled to shortstop.  Gallagher fouled out
  to 3b.  Ellerson homered to left field, 2 RBI; Conway scored.  Longo fouled
  out to 1b.  2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 6

  Aronson grounded out to 2b.  Wolverton flied out to rf.  Guion flied out to
  rf.  0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Montclair State inning 7

  Francia singled to center field.  Houser flied out to lf.  J Schriber
  reached on an error by ss; Francia advanced to third.  Wurst singled to
  center field, RBI; J Schriber advanced to second; Francia scored, unearned. 
  Baran singled to right field, advanced to second on a throwing error by rf,
  RBI; Wurst advanced to third; J Schriber scored.  Conway singled to center
  field, 2 RBI; Baran scored, unearned; Wurst scored.  Gallagher singled to
  right field; Conway advanced to second.  Cerminaro pinch ran for Conway. 
  Blazovich to p for Toov.  Ellerson singled to left field, RBI; Gallagher
  advanced to second; Cerminaro scored.  Longo walked; Ellerson advanced to
  second; Gallagher advanced to third.  Becker pinch hit for Francia.  Becker
  walked, RBI; Longo advanced to second; Ellerson advanced to third; Gallagher
  scored.  S Morrison pinch hit for Houser.  S Morrison struck out swinging. 
  Clifford pinch hit for J Schriber.  Clifford grounded out to ss.  6 runs, 6
  hits, 2 errors, 3 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 7

  Cerminaro to 3b.  S Clark to cf for Longo.  Becker to 1b.  S Morrison to lf.
  Clifford to c.  Benson pinch hit for Wilberg.  Benson grounded out to ss. 
  Christiansen pinch hit for Frein.  Christiansen struck out looking.  Bonine
  singled to left field.  Mauer reached on a fielder's choice; Bonine out at
  second 3b to 2b.  0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Montclair State inning 8

  K Olson to c for Benson.  Buzzell to ss for Christiansen.  Wurst grounded
  out to ss.  Bracht pinch hit for Baran.  Bracht grounded out to 3b. 
  Cerminaro struck out swinging.  0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 8

  J Cook to 2b for Wurst.  Bracht to rf.  Trongone to p for Belson.  Sundberg
  doubled down the lf line.  Rafferty struck out swinging.  Aronson grounded
  out to 3b.  Wolverton singled to right field, RBI; Sundberg scored.  Guion
  grounded out to p.  1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Montclair State inning 9

  S Allan pinch hit for Gallagher.  S Allan struck out swinging.  Ellerson
  grounded out to 3b.  S Clark singled to center field.  Becker reached on a
  fielder's choice; S Clark out at second 3b to 2b.  0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
  1 LOB.

St. Thomas (Minn) inning 9

  Whalen to p for Trongone.  K Olson grounded out to 3b.  Buzzell struck out
  swinging.  D Novak pinch hit for Bonine.  D Novak singled to center field. 
  Mauer singled to center field; D Novak advanced to second.  Sundberg struck
  out swinging.  0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Updated Sept 2003