Game 10 - May 27, 2001
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Grand Chute, Wisconsin - In its first two games at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, Salisbury State proved it could hang tough in close games. The Sea Gulls lost their opener 1-0, then came back to win 2-1 on Saturday. But on Sunday, the Sea Gulls proved they could get a victory in a wild affair featuring 27 hits and seven errors. Anchored by some solid defensive plays, a barrage of hits and Star Kriger's effective pitching, Salisbury State beat SUNY-Cortland 6-4. The Sea Gulls (33-12) face defending champion Montclair State on Monday. SUNY-Cortland (34-11), which hurt itself with four errors, was eliminated from its sixth championship finals.
After being held to only 11 hits over its first two games, Salisbury State erupted for 14 hits, including three each by Jason Ewing and Kevin Davis. Still, coach Doug Fleetwood said: "I think the key wasn't our hitting. ... The key was playing good defense. "Any time we got in trouble today was when we didn't play good defense." One of those times they got in trouble was the bottom of the first inning.
After the Sea Gulls took a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning on Davis' single that scored Ewing, they could only watch as Cortland State (34-11) roared back with three runs in the bottom half. Travis Smith and Pat D'Auria drove in the Red Dragons' first two runs.
Their third run of the inning scored when catcher Mike Russell's errant pickoff throw to first allowed Smith to score from third. "We got a little tight and made some mistakes," said Fleetwood, whose team had three errors after not committing any the first two days. "Once we got ourselves going and loosened up, then we played well."
Indeed they did. Even though Kriger allowed 13 hits, he gave up only one run the rest of the way. It was just his second start of the season, and he went the distance, striking out three and walking two. His other start came May 19 in a complete-game victory over Emory, the nation's top-ranked Division III team at the time. "After the first couple innings, I felt wonderful," Kriger said. "But that first inning was a little shaky. "It's been kind of my luck this year that even when things are bad they work out." Added Fleetwood: "Star threw the ball well, and that's what you hope for. We knew he would do a good job. It was just a matter getting out there and playing good defense behind him." The Sea Gulls turned three double plays, and threw two runners out trying to score in the third inning after Cortland State pulled ahead 4-2 on . "That was a big lift getting out of that inning being down only two," said Ewing, who scored on Davis' single in the top of the third to close the Sea Gulls' deficit to 3-2.
Salisbury State pulled away for good in the sixth, scoring three times. With one out, Justin Taylor singled up the middle, driving in Mike Harbaugh from second. Two batters later, Taylor scored on Robbie Robeson's bunt down the first-base line. But the pitcher threw wildly into right field, allowing runners to advance to second and third. Davis followed with a sacrifice fly that drove in Ewing for the third time in the game, putting the Sea Gulls ahead 5-4. Their final run scored in the seventh as B.J. Jarrett's bloop single to center scored Andrew Colanero. "I thought we swung the bats pretty well all day," said Fleetwood, whose team entered the game batting just .183 (11-of-60) over the first two games. "Today, we were back to where we've been." The Sea Gulls finished 14-of-40 at the plate on Sunday.
With the victory, Salisbury State tied a school record for wins in a season dating back to 1977. Their celebration was tempered a bit, however, with the loss of senior second baseman Nate Israel. He was playing for the first time in more than a month after seriously injuring a knee. In the first inning, Israel scooped up a grounder but his knee buckled when he tried to plant his leg for the throw. He writhed on the ground in pain for a few moments before limping off the field under his own power. Robeson replaced him and finished two-for-four. Colanero also added two hits.
Smith finished three-for-four to lead Cortland State, while Ben Albright, Brendan Chiavaro and Cory Haggerty each added two hits. Chiavaro had a string of eight straight hits snapped in the sixth inning.
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Salisbury State U. 6 (33-12) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Jason Ewing lf............ 5 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 Nathan Israel 2b.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Robbie Robeson 2b......... 4 0 2 1 0 1 2 3 Kevin Davis 1b............ 4 0 3 3 0 0 9 1 Mike Russell c............ 4 0 0 0 1 1 6 0 Andrew Colanero dh........ 4 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 Chris Keane rf............ 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Mike Harbaugh 3b.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 B.J. Jarrett ss........... 5 0 1 1 0 1 2 5 Justin Taylor cf.......... 4 1 1 1 0 0 6 1 Star Kriger p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 40 6 14 6 2 5 27 14 Cortland State Univ. 4 (34-11) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Ben Albright 1b........... 5 1 2 0 0 0 12 1 Brendan Chiavaro lf....... 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 Travis Smith 3b........... 4 1 3 1 0 0 1 4 Cory Haggerty 2b.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 Pat D'Auria dh............ 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Ed Firpo pr/dh............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Larry Williams ss......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 Matt Christiana rf........ 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 Tim Hunter ph............. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Josh Horner rf............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Huber cf............ 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 Tim Belz c................ 3 0 1 0 0 0 6 0 Steve Wanamaker ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Kyle Johnson p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Anthony Sprague p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 35 4 13 2 2 3 27 15 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Salisbury State U. 101 003 100 - 6 14 3 Cortland State Univ. 301 000 000 - 4 13 4 ---------------------------------------------- E - Ewing, Russell, Kriger, Albright 2, Smith, Sprague. DP - Salisbury 3, Cortland St. 1. LOB - Salisbury 11, Cortland St. 7. 2B - Ewing(9), Colanero(9), Albright(4). SB - Ewing(25), Davis(11), Keane(4), Harbaugh(8), Taylor(18). SH - Harbaugh. SF - Davis, D'Auria. Salisbury State U. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Star Kriger......... 9.0 13 4 3 2 3 35 38 Cortland State Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Kyle Johnson........ 5.1 10 5 2 2 3 25 28 Anthony Sprague..... 3.2 4 1 0 0 2 15 16 Win - Kriger 3-1. Loss - Johnson 4-4. Save - None. WP - Johnson. Umpires - Home:Mike Parquette 1st:Bill Prange 2nd:Jeff Sill 3rd:George Drouches Start: 3:30 pm Time: 2:44 Attendance: 839
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Salisbury State U. 101 003 100 - 6 14 3 Cortland State Univ. 301 000 000 - 4 13 4 ---------------------------------------------- Salisbury State U. inning 1 Ewing doubled down the lf line. Israel grounded out to 2b; Ewing advanced to third. Davis singled to shortstop, RBI; Ewing scored. Davis stole second. Russell flied out to lf. Colanero struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 1 Albright doubled down the rf line. Chiavaro singled to second base; Albright advanced to third. Robeson to 2b for Israel. Smith singled to shortstop, RBI; Chiavaro advanced to second; Albright scored. Haggerty singled to pitcher, bunt; Smith advanced to second; Chiavaro advanced to third. D'Auria flied out to cf, SF, RBI; Smith advanced to third; Chiavaro scored. Haggerty failed pickoff attempt; Smith scored on an error by c, scored on the throw. Williams grounded out to 2b; Haggerty advanced to second. Christiana flied out to lf. 3 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 2 Keane struck out swinging. Harbaugh singled to shortstop. Jarrett grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Harbaugh out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 2 Huber struck out swinging. Belz grounded out to 2b. Albright grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 3 Taylor reached on an error by 1b. Ewing reached on a fielder's choice; Taylor out at second p to ss. Ewing stole second. Robeson grounded out to p; Ewing advanced to third. Davis singled through the right side, RBI; Ewing scored, unearned. Russell grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 3 Chiavaro singled to pitcher. Smith singled through the left side; Chiavaro advanced to second. Haggerty singled, bunt, advanced to third; Smith advanced to third, out at home 3b to c; Chiavaro advanced to third on a throwing error by p, scored, unearned. D'Auria flied into double play cf to c; Haggerty out on the play. 1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 4 Colanero singled through the left side. Keane singled to center field; Colanero advanced to second. Harbaugh grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Keane advanced to second; Colanero advanced to third. Jarrett struck out swinging. Taylor flied out to rf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 4 Williams struck out swinging. Christiana singled down the lf line. Huber walked; Christiana advanced to second. Belz singled to left field; Huber advanced to second; Christiana advanced to third. Albright lined into double play ss to 2b; Huber out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 5 Ewing grounded out to ss. Robeson singled to right field. Davis singled; Robeson advanced to second, out at third ss to 1b to 3b. Davis advanced to second on a wild pitch. Russell walked. Colanero walked; Russell advanced to second; Davis advanced to third. Keane grounded out to p. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 5 Chiavaro grounded out to ss. Smith flied out to cf. Haggerty out at first p to 3b to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 6 Harbaugh reached on an error by 3b. Harbaugh stole second. Jarrett grounded out to 3b. Taylor singled up the middle, RBI; Harbaugh scored, unearned. Taylor stole second. Ewing singled to center field; Taylor advanced to third. Sprague to p for Johnson. Robeson singled, bunt, advanced to second on a throwing error by p, RBI; Ewing advanced to third; Taylor scored. Davis flied out to rf, SF, RBI; Robeson advanced to third; Ewing scored, unearned. Russell struck out looking. 3 runs, 3 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 6 D'Auria grounded out to ss. Williams grounded out to 2b. Christiana grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 7 Colanero doubled to right center. Keane reached on an error by 1b; Colanero advanced to third. Harbaugh fouled out to 1b. Keane stole second. Jarrett singled to center field, RBI; Colanero scored, unearned. Taylor flied out to rf. Jarrett out at first p to 1b, picked off. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 7 Huber fouled out to c. Belz flied out to cf. Albright singled to right center. Chiavaro reached on a fielder's choice; Albright out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 8 Ewing singled to center field. Robeson struck out, bunt. Davis reached on a fielder's choice; Ewing advanced to second. Russell flied out to rf; Ewing advanced to third. Colanero flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 8 Smith singled, advanced to second on an error by lf. Haggerty lined into double play 1b to ss; Smith out on the play. D'Auria walked. Firpo pinch ran for D'Auria. Williams singled down the rf line; Firpo advanced to third. Hunter pinch hit for Christiana. Hunter flied out to cf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB. Salisbury State U. inning 9 Firpo to dh. Horner to rf for Hunter. Keane fouled out to c. Harbaugh grounded out to 3b. Jarrett grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Cortland State Univ. inning 9 Huber singled to left field. Wanamaker pinch hit for Belz. Wanamaker struck out looking. Albright flied out to cf. Chiavaro flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003