Game 13 - May 26, 2003
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Grand Chute, Wisconsin - In order to be a champion, you have to beat the champion. Christopher Newport University is in position now to accomplish the latter after achieving the former, with a 4-2 defeat of defending champion Eastern Connecticut State University in an elimination game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Series Monday at Fox Cities Stadium.
Catcher Scotty George (left) came up with the bases loaded and one away in the first, and gave himself a pep-talk. “I just told myself, this is the college world series, you better straighten yourself out,” George said. With a 1-1 count, Eastern starter Jeremy Hall threw a curveball outside that George smacked into right center to put two runs on the board.
Captains leadoff man Jeremy Elliot (right) sparked an 11-hit attack on Eastern starter Jeremy Hall early on, when he opened the game with a base hit. The Captains put three scores on the board before Eastern had a chance to come up to bat. “I think getting that early lead helped me relax a little bit,” Elliot said. The centerfielder had been struggling thus far in the tournament, hitting an abysmal .077 (1-13) before collecting three hits on Monday.
Staked to an early lead, Christopher Newport starter Brandon Haywood (left) was able to settle into a little groove. He pitched seven solid innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with two strikeouts and a pair of walks. His mixed bag of pitches, which relied heavily on several timely sharp outside curveballs and frequent changes of speed, forced the Warriors into hitting 12 pop-ups, and he never allowed multiple hits in an inning.
“Scotty [George] called a great game,” Haywood said of his battery mate. “He studied a lot of videotape, and knew what these guys were going for.” “I just threw whatever he called.”
Third-year head coach John Harvell was not unaware of the similarities between his team’s last meeting with the Warriors. A year ago on the tournament’s fourth day, the Captains defeated eventual champion Eastern 6-5 when shortstop Ted Tignor hit an RBI double in the ninth inning. The Captains then had to defeat Marietta that same day to advance to the championship game, but dropped a 9-6 decision. “I thought about it a lot,” Harvell said. “It feels an awful lot better being on this end, for sure.”
With the current trophy holder out of the picture, Harvell’s – and his team’s sights – are set on the school’s first championship. “We are going to make sure we leave everything on the field Tuesday,” Harvell said. “If a team beats us twice to win that title, they will have had to earn it.”
Harvell’s squad – an at-large entry in this year’s tournament field – will bring a 35-7 record into a Tuesday showdown with Chapman University. Eastern looked to be in position to tie or win the game and stave off elimination in the ninth. With one away, the Warriors loaded the bases off Jason Brown’s relief work. Leadoff man Morgan Thompson came to the plate looking to drive in at least a run, and ripped a 1-1 shot right into the glove of Captains first baseman John Corbin, who quickly stepped on first for the double play and the win.
“There is a fine line between being a champion,” Eastern head coach Bill Holowaty said. “Today, that line just wasn’t in our favor.” Little East Conference champion Eastern Connecticut wrapped up its ninth trip to the Championship Series with a 2-2 showing, and a final 2003 mark of 35-7. In the series, the Warriors opened with a 6-3 win over DeSales University, but fell to Anderson University 3-2 on day two. Eastern recovered on Sunday to defeat the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 12-2.
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Christopher Newport 4 (35-7) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Jeremy Elliot cf.......... 5 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 Ricky Medina 2b........... 5 1 2 1 0 0 1 3 Matt Turner rf............ 4 1 1 0 1 0 5 1 Chris Phaup 3b............ 4 1 2 0 1 0 2 1 Scotty George c........... 5 0 2 2 0 1 2 0 John Corbin 1b............ 3 0 0 0 1 1 8 0 Jayson Basanes dh......... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Jason Moody lf............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Matt Lewellen ss.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 Brandon Haywood p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Steven Mingee p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Brown p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 37 4 11 3 4 4 27 8 Eastern Conn State 2 (43-9) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Morgan Thompson 2b........ 4 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 Tom Koch ss............... 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 Eugene Julien lf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Dwight Wildman cf......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Leon Galemba dh........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Marc Garofalo 3b.......... 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 3 Jeff Funaro c............. 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Justin McCulloch 1b....... 3 1 2 0 1 0 12 0 Ryan DiPietro pr.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dan Silva rf.............. 3 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 Jason Pekrul pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jeremy Hall p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 David Meeker p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 33 2 8 2 2 2 27 13 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Christopher Newport 300 100 000 - 4 11 1 Eastern Conn State 011 000 000 - 2 8 2 ---------------------------------------------- E - M. Lewellen; T. Koch; J. Funaro. DP - CNU 2; ECSU 1. LOB - CNU 10; ECSU 8. 2B - M. Turner(11). HR - M. Garofalo(2). SB - C. Phaup(3); D. Wildman 2(40). CS - J. Moody. SF - M. Thompson. Christopher Newport IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Brandon Haywood..... 7.0 5 2 2 2 2 25 29 Steven Mingee....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 Jason Brown......... 1.0 3 0 0 0 0 5 5 Eastern Conn State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Jeremy Hall......... 7.0 10 4 3 3 4 30 33 David Meeker........ 2.0 1 0 0 1 0 7 8 Win - B. Haywood 8-2. Loss - J. Hall 4-1. Save - J. Brown (8). PB - S. George. HBP - by B. Haywood (J. Funaro). Umpires - Home:Gary Gilman 1st:Rick Lindquist 2nd:George Drouches 3rd:Dennis Varwig Start: 3:30 pm Time: 2:22 Attendance: 1656
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Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Christopher Newport 300 100 000 - 4 11 1 E. Connecticut St. 011 000 000 - 2 8 2 ---------------------------------------------- Christopher Newport inning 1 J. Elliott singled to second base. R. Medina reached on a fielder's choice, bunt; J. Elliott out at second p to ss. M. Turner doubled to left center; R. Medina advanced to third. C. Phaup intentionally walked. S. George singled to right center, 2 RBI; C. Phaup advanced to second; M. Turner scored; R. Medina scored. J. Corbin struck out looking. S. George advanced to second; C. Phaup stole third, scored on a throwing error by c, unearned. J. Basanes grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 1 M. Thompson lined out to rf. T. Koch flied out to lf. E. Julien grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 2 J. Moody struck out swinging. M. Lewellen grounded out to 2b. J. Elliott singled to left field. R. Medina singled to shortstop; J. Elliott advanced to second. M. Turner popped up to ss. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 2 D. Wildman grounded out to ss. L. Galemba grounded out to 2b. M. Garofalo homered to left field, RBI. J. Funaro flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 3 C. Phaup singled through the right side. S. George grounded into double play ss to 1b; C. Phaup out on the play. J. Corbin out at first 2b to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 3 J. McCulloch walked. D. Silva singled through the right side; J. McCulloch advanced to third. M. Thompson flied out to rf, SF, RBI; D. Silva advanced to second; J. McCulloch scored. T. Koch struck out looking. E. Julien flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 4 J. Basanes singled to right field. J. Moody popped up to p, bunt. M. Lewellen walked; J. Basanes advanced to second. J. Elliott singled through the right side; M. Lewellen advanced to second; J. Basanes advanced to third. R. Medina grounded out to 2b, RBI; J. Elliott advanced to second; M. Lewellen advanced to third; J. Basanes scored. M. Turner grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 4 D. Wildman grounded out to 3b. L. Galemba reached on a fielding error by ss. L. Galemba advanced to second on a passed ball. M. Garofalo flied into double play rf to 3b; L. Galemba out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 5 C. Phaup grounded out to 3b. S. George struck out swinging. J. Corbin walked. J. Basanes struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 5 J. Funaro grounded out to 2b. J. McCulloch singled to left center. D. Silva walked; J. McCulloch advanced to second. M. Thompson flied out to lf. T. Koch reached on a fielder's choice; D. Silva out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 6 J. Moody grounded out to ss. M. Lewellen grounded out to ss. J. Elliott flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 6 E. Julien flied out to rf. D. Wildman singled down the lf line. D. Wildman stole second. L. Galemba struck out swinging; D. Wildman stole third. M. Garofalo popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 7 R. Medina flied out to lf. M. Turner grounded out to 2b. C. Phaup singled to left center. S. George singled up the middle; C. Phaup advanced to second. J. Corbin grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 7 J. Funaro hit by pitch. J. McCulloch fouled out to 3b. D. Silva singled to center field; J. Funaro advanced to third. M. Thompson flied out to lf. T. Koch flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 8 D. Meeker to p for J. Hall. J. Basanes grounded out to p. J. Moody reached on a fielding error by ss. M. Lewellen flied out to rf. J. Moody out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 8 S. Mingee to p for B. Haywood. E. Julien grounded out to ss. D. Wildman flied out to cf. L. Galemba popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Christopher Newport inning 9 J. Elliott grounded out to 1b unassisted. R. Medina singled up the middle. M. Turner walked; R. Medina advanced to second. C. Phaup flied out to rf. S. George popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut St. inning 9 J. Brown to p for S. Mingee. M. Garofalo singled to shortstop. J. Funaro flied out to lf. J. McCulloch singled through the left side; M. Garofalo advanced to second. R. DiPietro pinch ran for J. McCulloch. D. Silva singled to right field; R. DiPietro advanced to second; M. Garofalo advanced to third. J. Pekrul pinch ran for D. Silva. M. Thompson lined into double play 1b unassisted; J. Pekrul out on the play. 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003