Game 6 - May 26, 2001
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Mark Russell struck out seven batters in a complete-game pitching effort, and Pat Toomey set a University of Southern Maine career hits record on a solo home run, leading the Huskies to a 12-2 victory over Illinois Wesleyan University in an NCAA Division III Baseball Championships elimination game Saturday afternoon at Fox Cities Stadium. The Huskies, now 37-13 overall, banged out 15 hits and took advantage of five fielding errors by Illinois Wesleyan, which finished its season 37-15-1. Six of Southern Maine's 12 runs were unearned. Southern Maine will return to action on Sunday at 12 noon in another elimination game, facing the loser of Saturday evening's championship-round game between the University of St. Thomas and the State University of New York-Cortland.
Toomey's solo homer to left center in the seventh inning gave him 254 career hits, bettering the old record of 253, set by Bob Prince from 1989-92. The mark is his fourth school career record set this season; he also holds school marks for runs scored, stolen bases and defensive assists. "Our hitting coach, Vinnie (Degifico), was getting on us because we didn't put up enough runs last night," Toomey said. "He says that 15 hits is going to win you a game every time out, so we came out with a couple of runs and runs early. We got lucky the first couple of innings, when they made a couple of errors to help us out and let us score a couple of runs. We kept hitting the ball and Vinnie kept telling us to get to number 15, and sure enough, in the eighth or ninth, we got there."
Russell struck out seven Titans in improving to 7-1 on the season, allowing just four walks and seven hits. He kept the Titans off the scoreboard until the ninth inning. "He's going to give you an effort every time," said Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty. "He's pitched in a lot of big games. He's pitched in a World Series and a whole bunch of regional games. He's a bulldog, a competitor, and I didn't expect any less from him. He's the guy you'd expect to have in that game." Russell was battling a strained oblique muscle in his back that prevented him from using his normal pitching motion. He said he felt the injury on a few defensive plays in the contest, but was able to pitch the complete game. "I felt pretty good. I hadn't really thrown a ball in a week. I tried to take the whole week off and rehab it," Russell said. "I was throwing differently from the start of the game because I couldn't throw over the top."
The Huskies opened the scoring with single runs in the first two innings. Runners reached second and third on two fielding errors in the bottom of the first inning, and the Huskies plated a run on a wild pitch to open the game. Jason Dority's run-scoring double in the second made the score 2-0 in USM's favor. Another double, by Andy Lang, plated Jody Curcuru from first base in the bottom of the third. A two-out single by Dority brought in another run in the frame, and a throwing error scored another to make it 5-0. The Huskies scored another run in the fifth, when Lang scored on a fielding error.
Illinois Wesleyan starter Steve Schilsky lasted just three innings, giving up six hits and five runs (three earned). The Titans ended up using five pitchers in the game. "The breaks didn't go our way today, and that happens," Schilsky said. "I kind of blame myself because I should have bounced back a lot better than I did. We had some adversity face us in the first three innings. It was really tough, and it didn't feel like the emotion that we've had was there after we got down."
A five-run sixth inning spelled disaster for the Titans, with all the USM runs coming with two outs. A double by Tyler Delorme in the sixth drive in a run. Jody Curcuru followed Delorme's double with a two-run homer to left-center, and Peter L'Italien's two-run double capped the scoring to make it 11-0. Pat Toomey socked his record-setting homer in the seventh to complete the scoring. "We had two outs, nobody and base, and they score three runs, and then we have two outs, nobody on base and they score five," said Illinois Wesleyan coach Dennis Martel. "I always preach that the hardest out is the last one. … We just didn't do the things that had gotten us to this point all year. That's the frustrating part."
Brian Marshall's three hits and three runs led the Huskies, with Curcuru, Lang, Dority and L'Italien adding two hits apiece. Curcuru scored twice and Lang scored three times. The Titans scored their first and only runs of the tournament in the ninth, when Jeremy Hunt drove in Rich Berthold on a groundout, and Haneef Omar plated Shawn McGuire on a single.
Illinois Wesleyan was shutout on Friday night with a 7-0 loss to the University of St. Thomas. "Obviously, you want to come here and play your best baseball, and obviously, we didn't," said Illinois Wesleyan third baseman Tony Merritt. "It was very frustrating that we didn't score as many runs as we should have, and we had to take it on the chin."
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Illinois Wesleyan 2 (37-15-1) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Justin Cripe lf........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Ryan Gilfillan 2b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 Chuck Nelson ph/2b........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Tony Merritt 3b/ss........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 Rich Berthold ph.......... 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Chad Rock c............... 1 0 0 0 2 0 8 0 Shawn McGuire ph.......... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Morris dh........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Kent Devine ph/dh......... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jeremy Hunt cf............ 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 Kory Blumer 1b............ 2 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 Nate Kren ph/1b........... 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Haneef Omar rf............ 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Andy Brandt ss............ 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 Chris Kaufman 3b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Steve Schilsky p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Josh Ward p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Steve Brook p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Scott Schiller p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Erik Zier p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 32 2 7 2 4 7 24 12 U of Southern Maine 12 (37-13) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Shaun Richardson cf....... 6 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 Pat Toomey ss............. 5 2 1 1 0 1 2 5 Tyler Delorme lf.......... 5 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 Jody Curcuru 1b........... 4 2 2 2 1 1 12 1 Andy Lang 2b.............. 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 Brian Marshall 3b......... 4 3 3 0 1 0 0 2 Jason Dority dh........... 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 Paul Tedesco ph/dh........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Peter L'Italien c......... 5 0 2 2 0 3 7 0 Adam Lemieux rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Pat McDonough ph.......... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Colin Loveless rf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mark Russell p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Totals.................... 41 12 15 9 5 9 27 15 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Illinois Wesleyan 000 000 002 - 2 7 5 U of Southern Maine 113 015 10 - 12 15 0 ---------------------------------------------- E - Merritt 2, Rock, Hunt, Blumer. DP - Ill. Wes. 2, So. Maine 2. LOB - Ill. Wes. 7, So. Maine 10. 2B - Merritt(9), Delorme(15), Lang(12), Dority(9). HR - Toomey(6), Curcuru(7). SB - Rock(12), Toomey(17), Lang(11), Marshall(9). Illinois Wesleyan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Steve Schilsky...... 3.0 6 5 3 1 5 16 17 Josh Ward........... 2.2 3 5 0 2 3 13 15 Steve Brook......... 0.1 1 1 1 2 0 2 4 Scott Schiller...... 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 5 5 Erik Zier........... 1.0 3 0 0 0 0 5 5 U of Southern Maine IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Mark Russell........ 9.0 7 2 2 4 7 32 36 Win - Russell 7-1. Loss - Schilsky 8-3. Save - None. WP - Schilsky. Umpires - Home:Bill Pensyl 1st:Mike Parquette 2nd:Bill Prange 3rd:Gary Kolkopf Start: 1:20 pm Time: 2:24 Attendance: 896
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Illinois Wesleyan 000 000 002 - 2 7 5 U of Southern Maine 113 015 10 - 12 15 0 ---------------------------------------------- Illinois Wesleyan inning 1 Cripe struck out swinging. Gilfillan struck out swinging. Merritt grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 1 Richardson singled to third base, advanced to second on a throwing error by 3b. Toomey reached on a dropped fly by cf, advanced to second; Richardson advanced to third. Delorme struck out swinging. Curcuru struck out, reached first on a wild pitch; Toomey advanced to third; Richardson scored, unearned. Lang grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Curcuru out on the play. 1 run, 1 hit, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 2 Rock walked. Morris struck out looking. Hunt reached on a fielder's choice; Rock out at second 1b to ss. Blumer struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 2 Marshall singled to center field. Marshall stole second. Dority doubled to left field, RBI; Marshall scored. L'Italien struck out swinging. Lemieux grounded out to p. Richardson struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 3 Omar grounded out to p, bunt. Brandt singled through the left side. Cripe walked; Brandt advanced to second. Gilfillan grounded into double play p to ss to 1b; Cripe out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 3 Toomey flied out to cf. Delorme flied out to cf. Curcuru walked. Lang doubled to right center, RBI; Curcuru scored. Marshall singled to pitcher; Lang advanced to third. Dority singled to right center, RBI; Marshall advanced to third; Lang scored. Dority advanced to second on a throwing error by c, advanced to third on a fielder's choice; Marshall scored, unearned. L'Italien struck out swinging. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 4 Merritt grounded out to p. Rock walked. Rock stole second. Morris flied out to rf. Hunt out at first p to ss to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 4 Ward to p for Schilsky. Lemieux flied out to ss. Richardson struck out looking. Toomey struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 5 Blumer singled through the right side. Omar grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Blumer out on the play. Brandt struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 5 Delorme fouled out to 1b. Curcuru grounded out to 2b. Lang walked. Lang stole second. Marshall reached on a throwing error by 3b, advanced to second; Lang, unearned. Dority walked. L'Italien struck out looking. 1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 6 Cripe lined out to lf. Gilfillan grounded out to 2b. Merritt doubled to left center. Rock grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 6 Lemieux grounded out to 3b. Richardson flied out to lf. Toomey reached on a muffed throw by 1b, assist by ss. Toomey stole second. Delorme doubled to left field, RBI; Toomey scored, unearned. Curcuru homered to left center, 2 RBI, unearned; Delorme scored, unearned. Lang singled through the right side. Brook to p for Ward. Marshall walked; Lang advanced to second. Dority walked; Marshall advanced to second; Lang advanced to third. L'Italien singled up the middle, 2 RBI; Dority advanced to second; Marshall scored, team unearned; Lang scored, unearned. Lemieux grounded out to 2b. 5 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 7 Devine pinch hit for Morris. Devine grounded out to ss. Hunt singled to left field. Kren pinch hit for Blumer. Kren flied out to rf. Omar grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 7 Merritt to ss. Devine to dh. Kren to 1b. Kaufman to 3b for Brandt. Schiller to p for Brook. Richardson grounded out to ss. Toomey homered to left center, RBI. Delorme grounded out to p. Curcuru singled through the right side. Lang struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 8 Kaufman struck out looking. Cripe flied out to lf. Nelson pinch hit for Gilfillan. Nelson grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. U of Southern Maine inning 8 Nelson to 2b. Zier to p for Schiller. Marshall singled to right field. Tedesco pinch hit for Dority. Tedesco grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Marshall out on the play. L'Italien singled to right field. McDonough pinch hit for Lemieux. McDonough singled through the right side; L'Italien advanced to second. Richardson grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Illinois Wesleyan inning 9 Tedesco to dh. Loveless to rf for McDonough. Berthold pinch hit for Merritt. Berthold walked. McGuire pinch hit for Rock. McGuire singled to pitcher; Berthold advanced to second. Devine singled through the right side; McGuire advanced to second; Berthold advanced to third. Hunt grounded out to 3b, RBI; Devine advanced to second; McGuire advanced to third; Berthold scored. Kren struck out swinging. Omar singled through the left side, RBI; Devine advanced to third; McGuire scored. Kaufman flied out to cf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003