Game 12 - May 27, 2002
Story | Box score | Play-by-Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - In a span of just under six hours Monday afternoon, Marietta College went from being undefeated and in control of its own destiny to the verge of being eliminated from the NCAA Division III Championship Series. But now, thanks to another impressive pitching performance from freshman right-hander Justin Papania (pictured on the left) and a clutch two-run double by designated hitter Todd Yoder, the Pioneers have found themselves in the hunt for their first National Championship since 1986 by virtue of a 3-1 defeat of The College of New Jersey at Fox Cities Stadium.
The win helped Marietta recover from a 4-2 loss to Eastern Connecticut State University earlier in the day. “We weren't ready to play this morning,” Marietta coach Don Schaly said. “And for the first half of the second game, we weren't crisp either.”
With his team unable to score, Papania kept the game close by allowing 10 hits but just one run, unearned, while throwing his first complete game of the season. Compared with one walk, Papania struck out six to improve to 7-0 on the season. “That's the second time in four days he pitched so well,” said TCNJ coach Rick Dell. Dell's team also lost to Papania and the Lions in the Series' opening game Friday.
Marietta played like deer caught in the headlights for six innings, before second baseman Dusty Childress walked to lead off the seventh. A sacrifice bunt moved Childress to second base while centerfielder Chris Sidick's fourth hit in five trips to the plate put runners at the corners with one out before Dell went to his bullpen. Nick Maddalena came on in relief of TCNJ starter Matt Szustowicz, who finished his day allowing four hits, walking five and striking out six. He left having given up no runs, but was responsible for Sidick and Childress. Yoder would be the first batter Maddalena faced, and used his curveball to work the count to even, 2-2. On Maddalena's next offering, Yoder belted a curveball away that just hugged the left-field line to clear the bases and give the Pioneers their first lead of the day. Yoder would score on a fielding error when catcher Joe Coakley hit a sacrifice fly to left. “I was looking just to hit one to right field or deep center,” Yoder said. “[Maddalena] threw me a couple curveballs early, and I got a good read on them.” “When he came at me with another one, I just sat back on it and got a hold of it.”
TCNJ had plenty of opportunities to extend the lead early, but were unable to capitalize on them as a result of lack of clutch hitting, and the effectiveness of Papania. “I felt good out there today,” Papania said. “I just wanted to keep things close and give my teammates a chance to stay in this thing.”
Jamie Riese and Colin Renick combined for five hits on the day, but as a team, the Lions stranded 10 runners. “We had chances,” Dell said. “We just didn't get it done. [Papania] was on his game again today and kept his guys in the ballgame until their bats woke up.”
Marietta will take a 40-8-1 record into a Tuesday contest between Christopher Newport University, or a rematch with ECSU.
NOTES: Marietta clinched the 20th 40-win season in program history, first in Division III this season ... Marietta College centerfielder Chris Sidick stole two bases in the game, making him 7-for-7 in the Series ... TCNJ was eliminated from its second NCAA Tournament appearance ... The Lions left 10 men on base, three short of the season high.
Story | Box score | Play-by-Play
Marietta College 3 (40-8-1) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Chris Sidick cf........... 5 1 4 0 0 1 3 0 Todd Yoder dh............. 3 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 Brent Curtin 3b........... 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 Jay Coakley c............. 4 0 0 1 0 1 6 0 Kevin May 1b.............. 5 0 2 0 0 1 6 0 Derek Pauley lf........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Matt McLuckey rf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 Dusty Childress 2b........ 2 1 0 0 2 0 3 6 Nate Brown ss............. 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 Justin Papania p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 32 3 9 3 6 9 27 9 Coll. of New Jersey 1 (36-14) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Jamie Riese cf............ 5 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 Chris Schoonhoven 2b...... 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 Bob Capaldo lf............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 Colin Renick 1b........... 4 0 2 0 0 1 9 0 Michael Kohri ss.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 Gregory Martinez dh....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Brian Hickey rf........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Stephen Czajka 3b......... 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 5 Sergio Sencion c.......... 3 0 1 1 0 1 8 2 Joseph Bergondo ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Matt Szustowicz p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Nick Maddalena p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 37 1 10 1 1 6 27 12 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Marietta College 000 000 300 - 3 9 1 Coll. of New Jersey 010 000 000 - 1 10 1 ---------------------------------------------- E - Brown, Capaldo. DP - Marietta 1, TCNJ 1. LOB - Marietta 12, TCNJ 10. 2B - Sidick, Yoder, K.May, Martinez. SB - Sidick 2. CS - Childress. SH - Pauley, Brown. SF - Coakley. Marietta College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Justin Papania...... 9.0 10 1 0 1 6 37 38 Coll. of New Jersey IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Matt Szustowicz..... 6.1 4 2 2 5 6 20 28 Nick Maddalena...... 2.2 5 1 1 1 3 12 14 Win - Papania 7-0. Loss - Szustowicz 7-3. Save - None. HBP - by Szustowicz (Curtin). Umpires - Home:John Ramsey 1st:Jim Jackson 2nd:Bob Still 3rd:George Drouches Start: 3:45 pm Time: 2:18 Attendance: 1048
Story | Box score | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Marietta College 000 000 300 - 3 9 1 Coll. of New Jersey 010 000 000 - 1 10 1 ---------------------------------------------- Marietta College inning 1 Sidick singled to center field (2-1). Yoder walked (3-1); Sidick advanced to second. Curtin hit by pitch (0-0); Yoder advanced to second; Sidick advanced to third. Coakley struck out swinging (1-2). K.May grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b (0-0); Curtin out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 1 Riese flied out to rf (0-0). Schoonhoven grounded out to 2b (1-2). Capaldo struck out swinging (0-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Marietta College inning 2 Pauley flied out to lf (1-2). McLuckey struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b (1-2). Childress grounded out to 3b (0-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 2 Renick reached on an error by ss (2-2). Kohri singled to left center (0-1); Renick advanced to second. Martinez reached on a fielder's choice, bunt (1-0); Kohri advanced to second; Renick out at third p to 3b. Hickey flied out to lf (2-1). Czajka walked (3-2); Martinez advanced to second; Kohri advanced to third. Sencion singled to left field, RBI (3-0); Czajka advanced to second; Martinez advanced to third; Kohri scored, unearned. Riese flied out to 2b (0-1). 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB. Marietta College inning 3 Brown struck out swinging (1-2). Sidick singled through the right side (1-2). Sidick stole second. Yoder walked (3-1). Curtin struck out swinging (1-2). Coakley flied out to cf (3-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 3 Schoonhoven grounded out to ss (0-0). Capaldo flied out to cf (0-0). Renick struck out looking (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Marietta College inning 4 K.May singled to left field (1-0). Pauley grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt (0-0); K.May advanced to second. McLuckey flied out to lf (1-1). Childress flied out to cf (1-0). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 4 Kohri flied out to 2b (1-2). Martinez doubled to left field (1-2). Hickey grounded out to 2b (0-0); Martinez advanced to third. Czajka struck out looking (0-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Marietta College inning 5 Brown fouled out to 1b (0-0). Sidick struck out looking (1-2). Yoder grounded out to 3b (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 5 Sencion struck out looking (0-2). Riese singled to right field (2-2). Schoonhoven struck out swinging (1-2). Capaldo grounded out to 2b (0-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Marietta College inning 6 Curtin walked (3-2). Coakley reached on a fielder's choice to left field (2-2); Curtin out at second lf to 2b. K.May out at first 2b to p (1-0); Coakley advanced to second. Pauley walked (3-0). McLuckey struck out looking (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 6 Renick singled to right field (0-0). Kohri grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b (1-0); Renick out on the play. Martinez struck out looking (0-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Marietta College inning 7 Childress walked (3-2). Brown grounded out to p, SAC, bunt (0-1); Childress advanced to second. Sidick singled through the left side (0-1); Childress advanced to third. Maddalena to p for Szustowicz. Sidick stole second. Yoder doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI (2-2); Sidick scored; Childress scored. Curtin singled to left field (0-0); Yoder advanced to third. Coakley reached on an error by lf, SF, RBI (0-0); Curtin advanced to second; Yoder scored. K.May struck out swinging (2-2). Pauley struck out looking (0-2). 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 7 Hickey singled to right field (0-1). Czajka flied out to rf (1-1). Sencion flied out to cf (1-1). Riese singled to second base (1-2); Hickey advanced to second. Schoonhoven flied out to rf (1-1). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Marietta College inning 8 McLuckey flied out to lf (1-2). Childress walked (3-1). Childress out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. Brown singled through the left side (3-2). Sidick doubled down the lf line (3-1); Brown advanced to third. Yoder struck out looking (1-2). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 8 Capaldo flied out to rf (0-1). Renick singled to second base (0-0). Kohri flied out to rf (1-0). Martinez reached on a fielder's choice (1-0); Renick out at second 2b to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Marietta College inning 9 Curtin grounded out to 3b (0-1). Coakley grounded out to 3b (0-0). K.May doubled down the rf line (0-1). Pauley flied out to 2b (2-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Coll. of New Jersey inning 9 Hickey flied out to cf (2-1). Czajka singled to right field (1-2). Bergondo pinch hit for Sencion. Bergondo flied out to rf (1-1). Riese singled to left field (0-1); Czajka advanced to second. Schoonhoven grounded out to 2b (0-0). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003