Game 7 - May 24, 2003
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Grand Chute, Wisconsin - Quality pitching and clutch hitting has Anderson University one game away from the title game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Series. The Ravens defeated defending national champion Eastern Connecticut State University 3-2 Saturday in a winners’ bracket game at Fox Cities Stadium. Anderson (35-14) advances to play Christopher Newport University in a winners’ bracket game Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Connecticut (42-8) drops into the elimination bracket and will play the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at noon on Sunday.
“We just kept hanging in there,” Anderson head coach Don Brandon said. “That’s all I can say. It was a tough game to win.” Anderson pitchers Kevin Nichols (left) and Clint Williams (right) combined to limit the Warriors to two hits. Nichols, who improved to 6-3 on the season, went 6 2/3 innings, gave up two hits, struck out three and walked eight. Williams pitched a perfect 2 1/3 innings, striking out four in the process, to get the save. “I think we had a great job of pitching. … We were able to keep them under control,” said Brandon, referring to the Warriors’ running game. “Had we let the tiger out of the bag by not pitching well, they would have been tough to deal with.”
Anderson jumped on top in the top of the first. Travis Davis’ sacrifice fly scored Brent Hodges, who had walked to start the game, and Anderson led 1-0.
The Warriors came back to tie the game in the bottom of the second. An error on right fielder Duke Behr allowed Marc Garofalo to reach and he later scored on Greg Sullivan’s groundout to knot the score at 1-1.
Anderson came right back in the top of the third to take a 2-1 advantage. John Buckner led off with a double, and he later scored on Davis’ groundout. Eastern Connecticut fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Morgan Thompson drew a walk to lead off the inning, advanced on a walk and a flyout, and scored on Dwight Wildman’s sacrifice fly.
Anderson finally grabbed the lead for good in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Buckner singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Davis (right) then came up with possibly the biggest hit of his college career. He belted a 3-1 fastball down the right field line, and Buckner scored to put the Ravens up 3-2. “That’s what you play for,” said Davis, who finished the day 1-for-3 with three RBI. “You get the fastball count, and that’s what you look for.”
Williams came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh, and he retired the next seven batters in order to seal the win for Anderson.
“They out-gutted us. They out-willed us,” Eastern Connecticut head coach Bill Holowaty said. “We didn’t pull the trigger. We didn’t do what we had to do. It’s aggravating. It’s frustrating.”
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Anderson 3 (35-14) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Brent Hodges 3b........... 3 1 1 0 2 0 0 3 John Buckner 2b........... 2 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 Troy Loyd dh.............. 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 Travis Davis 1b........... 3 0 1 3 0 1 6 1 Brandon Dillon cf......... 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Adam Bollier lf........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 Duke Behr rf.............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 Kyle Rayl c............... 4 0 2 0 0 0 7 1 Aaron Woolsey ss.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 3 Kevin Nichols p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Clint Williams p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 31 3 10 3 4 2 27 8 Eastern Conn State 2 (42-8) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Morgan Thompson 2b........ 2 1 0 0 3 1 2 0 Tom Koch ss............... 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 Eugene Julien lf.......... 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 Dwight Wildman cf......... 2 0 0 1 1 0 4 0 Leon Galemba dh........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Pekrul dh........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Marc Garofalo 3b.......... 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 Jeff Funaro c............. 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 1 Dan Silva rf.............. 3 0 1 0 0 1 3 1 Greg Sullivan 1b.......... 4 0 0 1 0 2 10 0 Adam Czerwinski p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Jeremy Hall p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Totals.................... 27 2 2 2 8 7 27 14 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Anderson 101 000 100 - 3 10 1 Eastern Conn State 010 010 000 - 2 2 3 ---------------------------------------------- E - D. Behr; M. Thompson; E. Julien; M. Garofalo. DP - AU 1; ECSU 2. LOB - AU 11; ECSU 8. 2B - J. Buckner(8); T. Davis(15). SB - D. Behr(35). CS - B. Hodges; D. Wildman. SH - J. Buckner 3. SF - T. Davis; D. Wildman. Anderson IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Kevin Nichols....... 6.2 2 2 1 8 3 20 30 Clint Williams...... 2.1 0 0 0 0 4 7 7 Eastern Conn State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Adam Czerwinski..... 6.2 6 3 2 3 0 23 31 Jeremy Hall......... 2.1 4 0 0 1 2 8 10 Win - K. Nichols 6-3. Loss - A. Czerwinsk 7-4. Save - C. Williams (8). WP - K. Nichols; A. Czerwinsk. HBP - by A. Czerwinsk (D. Behr); by K. Nichols (D. Silva); by A. Czerwinsk (T. Davis). Umpires - Home:Bill Ryan 1st:George Drouches 2nd:Rick Lindquist 3rd:Eric Pavlovich Start: 5:10 pm Time: 2:46 Attendance: 2471
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Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Anderson University 101 000 100 - 3 10 1 E. Connecticut St. 010 010 000 - 2 2 3 ---------------------------------------------- Anderson University inning 1 B. Hodges walked. J. Buckner grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC, bunt; B. Hodges advanced to second. T. Loyd singled to left field; B. Hodges advanced to third. T. Davis flied out to cf, SF, RBI; B. Hodges scored. B. Dillon grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 1 M. Thompson walked. T. Koch grounded out to 1b unassisted; M. Thompson advanced to second. M. Thompson advanced to third on a wild pitch. E. Julien grounded out to 3b. D. Wildman flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Anderson University inning 2 A. Bollier flied out to lf. D. Behr hit by pitch. K. Rayl singled to left field; D. Behr advanced to second. A. Woolsey flied out to lf. B. Hodges flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 2 L. Galemba flied out to cf. M. Garofalo reached on an error by rf. J. Funaro walked; M. Garofalo advanced to second. D. Silva singled to shortstop; J. Funaro advanced to second; M. Garofalo advanced to third. G. Sullivan grounded out to ss, RBI; D. Silva advanced to second; J. Funaro advanced to third; M. Garofalo scored, unearned. M. Thompson flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB. Anderson University inning 3 J. Buckner doubled down the lf line. T. Loyd flied out to rf; J. Buckner advanced to third. T. Davis grounded out to ss, RBI; J. Buckner scored. B. Dillon grounded out to p, bunt. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 3 T. Koch struck out looking. E. Julien struck out swinging. D. Wildman walked. D. Wildman out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Anderson University inning 4 A. Bollier flied out to cf. D. Behr flied out to cf. K. Rayl singled to left field. A. Woolsey popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 4 L. Galemba grounded out to 3b. M. Garofalo singled up the middle. J. Funaro flied out to cf. D. Silva hit by pitch; M. Garofalo advanced to second. G. Sullivan reached on a fielder's choice; D. Silva out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Anderson University inning 5 B. Hodges walked. J. Buckner grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; B. Hodges advanced to second. T. Loyd intentionally walked. T. Davis hit by pitch; T. Loyd advanced to second; B. Hodges advanced to third. B. Hodges out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. B. Dillon grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 5 M. Thompson walked. T. Koch walked; M. Thompson advanced to second. E. Julien flied out to rf; M. Thompson advanced to third. D. Wildman flied out to rf, SF, RBI; M. Thompson scored. L. Galemba flied out to lf. 1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Anderson University inning 6 A. Bollier reached on a fielding error by lf, advanced to second. D. Behr flied out to cf; A. Bollier advanced to third. K. Rayl flied into double play rf to c; A. Bollier out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 6 M. Garofalo walked. J. Funaro reached on a fielder's choice; M. Garofalo out at second 1b to ss. D. Silva grounded into double play ss to 1b; J. Funaro out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Anderson University inning 7 A. Woolsey reached on an error by 2b. B. Hodges grounded into double play p to ss to 1b; A. Woolsey out on the play. J. Buckner singled through the left side. J. Buckner advanced to second on a wild pitch. T. Loyd reached on a fielding error by 3b; J. Buckner advanced to third. T. Davis doubled down the rf line, RBI; T. Loyd advanced to third; J. Buckner scored, unearned. J. Hall to p for A. Czerwinsk. B. Dillon struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 7 G. Sullivan struck out looking. M. Thompson walked. T. Koch popped up to ss. E. Julien walked; M. Thompson advanced to second. C. Williams to p for K. Nichols. D. Wildman grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Anderson University inning 8 A. Bollier singled to center field. D. Behr singled to right field; A. Bollier advanced to second. A. Bollier out at second p to 2b, picked off. D. Behr stole second. K. Rayl grounded out to 3b. A. Woolsey singled; D. Behr advanced to third, out at home lf to c. 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 8 J. Pekrul to dh for L. Galemba. J. Pekrul struck out swinging. M. Garofalo flied out to cf. J. Funaro flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Anderson University inning 9 B. Hodges singled to catcher. J. Buckner out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; B. Hodges advanced to second. T. Loyd intentionally walked. T. Davis struck out swinging. B. Dillon grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 9 D. Silva struck out looking. G. Sullivan struck out swinging. M. Thompson struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003