Game 1 - May 23, 2003
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - Eastern Connecticut State University wasted little time in staking a claim to its second consecutive NCAA Division III baseball championship. The Warriors pounded out 14 hits and rode the solid right arm of starter Joey Serfass en route to a 6-3 victory over DeSales University in the opening game of the 2003 NCAA Division III Championship Series at Fox Cities Stadium Friday morning.
Eastern got on the board quickly, putting two runs on the board in the first inning off DeSales starter Matt Reppert. Eugene Julian followed a Tom Koch bunt with an opposite field single, sending Koch to third. Dwight Wildman (pictured to the left) came up next and ripped a double down the left field line, sending Koch home.
The Warriors added another run in the second, and then seemed to take total control of the game in the top of the fifth inning. Koch opened the frame with a double down the left field line. He advanced to third when Julien laid down a clean third-base bunt, reaching on the play. Wildman again drove in a run with a single to left. With Julien on third, Wildman stole second, putting a pair of Warriors in scoring position with nobody out. Julien scored when DeSales catcher Chris Peters allowed a passed ball, which put Wildman on third. Reppert finally retired his first batter when he got designated hitter Leon Galemba to ground out to second, but Wildman scored on the play. The righty retired the next two batters on flies to retire the side and escape any further damage.
DeSales managed to stage a rally in the bottom half of the sixth. Peters reached on an error by Eastern second baseman Morgan Thompson. Bulldogs’ second baseman Nolan Nieman doubled to left putting two men in scoring position with nobody out for Lew Campanaro. The centerfielder skied a long fly to center to score Peters. Serfass then plunked Brett Vargo to put men on first and second with one away. Ian Hauze singled to right center to score Nieman and advance Vargo to third. Serfass loaded the bases before finally getting out of the jam when Hauze was tagged out at home trying to score on a Hoffman single. “Joey is usually a ground ball pitcher, and it was just a bad inning,” Eastern coach Bill Holowaty said. “He recovered though. That’s just his usual, competitive self.”
Serfass (pictured to the right) pitched a complete game, allowing just three runs -- all unearned -- on just four hits, while striking out four. With the win, the junior improved to a perfect 9-0 on the season. “I had a lot of confidence in my defense today,” Serfass said. “I’m a ground ball pitcher, so they’re the ones that make the plays for me.”
Reppert threw eight innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on 11 hits. His record dropped to 9-3. Reppert had entered the game with an NCAA Division III record 42 1/3 innings of scoreless ball.
“I don’t think our team is about individual accomplishments,” Holowaty said. “That’s a phenomenal streak [Reppert] had. But our concern was to win the ballgame.” Eastern, which improved its mark to 42-6, will play Sunday at 4:30 p.m. DeSales, 30-13 this season, will drop into the losers’ bracket and play at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Eastern Conn State 6 (42-7) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Morgan Thompson 2b........ 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 5 Tom Koch ss............... 4 2 3 0 1 0 0 4 Eugene Julien lf.......... 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 Dwight Wildman cf......... 5 1 3 2 0 0 3 0 Leon Galemba dh........... 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Marc Garofalo 3b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 Jeff Funaro c............. 4 0 2 0 0 0 6 0 Dan Silva rf.............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 Greg Sullivan 1b.......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 12 0 Joey Serfass p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 Totals.................... 38 6 14 5 1 2 27 15 DeSales 3 (30-13) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Lew Campanaro cf.......... 3 0 0 1 0 0 8 0 Brett Vargo rf............ 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Dan Fratantoro 3b......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Ian Hauze ss.............. 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 Kevin Coyle dh............ 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kyle Hoffman 1b........... 4 0 2 0 0 0 7 1 Mike Cohan lf............. 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Chris Peters c............ 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 Nolan Neiman 2b........... 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 2 Matt Reppert p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Jon Pallone p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Totals.................... 30 3 4 2 1 4 27 10 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Eastern Conn State 210 030 000 - 6 14 2 DeSales 000 003 000 - 3 4 1 ---------------------------------------------- E - M. Thompson; G. Sullivan; D. Fratantor. DP - ECSU 1; DU 1. LOB - ECSU 8; DU 3. 2B - M. Thompson(13); T. Koch(13); D. Wildman 2(15); N. Neiman(6). SB - E. Julien(28); D. Wildman 2(38); G. Sullivan(10). CS - J. Funaro. SH - G. Sullivan. SF - L. Galemba; L. Campanaro. Eastern Conn State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Joey Serfass........ 9.0 4 3 0 1 4 30 33 DeSales IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Matt Reppert........ 8.0 11 6 5 1 2 33 36 Jon Pallone......... 1.0 3 0 0 0 0 5 5 Win - J. Serfass 9-0. Loss - M. Reppert 9-3. Save - None. PB - C. Peters. HBP - by J. Serfass (B. Vargo). Umpires - Home:George Drouches 1st:Rick Lindquist 2nd:Eric Pavlovich 3rd:Bill Ryan Start: 10:00 am Time: 2:06 Attendance: 1535
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- E. Connecticut St. 210 030 000 - 6 14 2 DeSales University 000 003 000 - 3 4 1 ---------------------------------------------- E. Connecticut St. inning 1 M. Thompson flied out to cf. T. Koch singled, bunt. E. Julien singled to right field; T. Koch advanced to third. D. Wildman doubled down the lf line, RBI; E. Julien advanced to third; T. Koch scored. L. Galemba flied out to lf, SF, RBI; E. Julien scored. D. Wildman stole third. M. Garofalo struck out looking. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. DeSales University inning 1 L. Campanaro grounded out to ss. B. Vargo out at first 2b to p. D. Fratantor struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 2 J. Funaro singled up the middle. J. Funaro out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. D. Silva flied out to cf. G. Sullivan singled to first base. G. Sullivan stole second. M. Thompson doubled down the lf line, RBI; G. Sullivan scored. T. Koch walked. E. Julien flied out to cf. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. DeSales University inning 2 I. Hauze struck out swinging. K. Coyle grounded out to ss. K. Hoffman singled to right field. M. Cohan struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 3 D. Wildman doubled to third base. L. Galemba flied out to cf. M. Garofalo flied out to cf. J. Funaro reached on a fielder's choice; D. Wildman advanced to third, out at home ss to c. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. DeSales University inning 3 C. Peters lined out to 1b. N. Neiman struck out swinging. L. Campanaro grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 4 D. Silva flied out to rf. G. Sullivan flied out to cf. M. Thompson popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. DeSales University inning 4 B. Vargo grounded out to 2b. D. Fratantor fouled out to c. I. Hauze grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 5 T. Koch doubled down the lf line. E. Julien singled to third base, bunt; T. Koch advanced to third. E. Julien stole second. D. Wildman singled to left field, RBI; E. Julien advanced to third; T. Koch scored. D. Wildman stole second. D. Wildman advanced to third; E. Julien scored on a passed ball. L. Galemba grounded out to 2b, RBI; D. Wildman scored, unearned. M. Garofalo grounded out to p. J. Funaro flied out to cf. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. DeSales University inning 5 K. Coyle popped up to 2b. K. Hoffman grounded out to 3b. M. Cohan grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 6 D. Silva reached on an error by 3b, bunt. G. Sullivan grounded out to c, SAC, bunt; D. Silva advanced to second. M. Thompson flied out to lf. T. Koch grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. DeSales University inning 6 C. Peters reached on an error by 2b. N. Neiman doubled to left field; C. Peters advanced to third. L. Campanaro flied out to cf, SF, RBI; C. Peters scored, unearned. B. Vargo hit by pitch. D. Fratantor flied out to rf; N. Neiman advanced to third. I. Hauze singled to center field, RBI; B. Vargo advanced to third; N. Neiman scored, unearned. K. Coyle reached on an error by 1b; I. Hauze advanced to second; B. Vargo scored, unearned. K. Hoffman singled; K. Coyle advanced to second; I. Hauze advanced to third, out at home rf to c. 3 runs, 3 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 7 E. Julien grounded out to 2b. D. Wildman flied out to cf. L. Galemba flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. DeSales University inning 7 M. Cohan walked. C. Peters grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; M. Cohan out on the play. N. Neiman flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 8 M. Garofalo struck out swinging. J. Funaro singled through the left side. D. Silva grounded out to 1b unassisted; J. Funaro advanced to second. G. Sullivan out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. DeSales University inning 8 L. Campanaro flied out to cf. B. Vargo flied out to rf. D. Fratantor grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 9 J. Pallone to p for M. Reppert. M. Thompson singled to shortstop. T. Koch singled to catcher, bunt; M. Thompson advanced to second. E. Julien singled to left field; T. Koch advanced to second; M. Thompson advanced to third. D. Wildman reached on a fielder's choice; E. Julien advanced to second; T. Koch advanced to third; M. Thompson out at home ss to c. L. Galemba lined into double play p to 1b; D. Wildman out on the play. 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. DeSales University inning 9 I. Hauze flied out to cf. K. Coyle grounded out to 3b. K. Hoffman out at first p to 2b to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003