Game 2 - May 28, 2004
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - Ryan DiPietro (pictured left) claimed that he didn't have his best stuff, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a member of the Manchester College baseball team that believed him. DiPietro shut Manchester out and allowed just three hits to lead Eastern Connecticut State University to a 10-0 win afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship finals at Fox Cities Stadium.
After throwing a complete game while striking out six to win his 10th game of the season, Eastern head coach Bill Holowaty had a pretty simple assessment of his All-America pitcher. "He certainly makes you look like a pretty good coach, doesn't he," Holowaty asked. DiPietro's fastball was a blur to the Spartans' lineup all day. If a batter managed to spot it, he came right back with a curveball that DiPietro claimed was not up to snuff, but nonetheless was ruthless to Manchester batters.
"He's good, what more can you say," Spartans first baseman Ryan Carr said. "You go up to the plate looking for a fastball, and he comes at you with that curve and all you could do was chase after it."
In the fifth, the Warriors' offense broke open what had been an impressive pitchers' duel between DiPietro and Manchester starter Tyler Wolfe. Wolfe, who had allowed one run on just four hits until that point, walked the first two batters of the inning to bring up Eastern shortstop Eugene Julien (pictured right), who entered the game hitting a robust .357. Julien was unsuccessful in a sacrifice attempt to move two baseburners over but regrouped to work the count to 2-2 before slamming an inside fastball to left field for a three-run home run. "I was just looking to not strike out," Julien said. "I knew if I struck out, I was going to catch it from coach."
Staked to a 5-1 lead after five innings, DiPietro cruised the rest of the way, and while he had trouble getting ahead in the count, he allowed just one hit and one walk over the final four innings. Eastern sealed the deal in the bottom of the eighth, tacking another five runs on the board on Jason Pekrul's (pictured above left) RBI double down the left field line and a three-run home run off the bat of Dwight Wildman (pictured left).
The win was DiPietro's fourth in postseason competition and second at the finals. He picked up a decision in a 12-2 win over the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in last year's finals. It was also the 20th win in 21 career decisions for the sophomore, who moved back into first place nationally with a 0.76 earned run average.
"He was just throwing gas," Manchester head coach Rick Espeset said. "He doesn't let you get two men on base in a row."
Wildman led the Warriors (40-9) with three hits, a pair of runs, and four RBI. Pekrul and first baseman Chris DeSantis also added a pair of hits for Eastern, while Julian and Pekrul combined for five RBI.
Eastern will advance to face SUNY-Brockport, while Manchester (35-11) will meet Aurora University in a loser's bracket game
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Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Manchester College 0 (35-11) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Scott Tarnowski cf........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 9 0 Eric Screetson 3b......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 Jared Kurtz c............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Ryan Carr 1b.............. 4 0 1 0 0 1 5 1 Brian Minix ss............ 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 Josh Brock lf............. 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 Brock Treesh rf........... 2 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 Adam Custer pr/rf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greg Hollenbaugh dh....... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Seal 2b.............. 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Tyler Wolfe p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Travis Sluss p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 29 0 3 0 2 6 24 4 E. Connecticut State 10 (40-9) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Jason Pekrul lf........... 4 2 2 2 1 0 4 0 Eugene Julien 2b.......... 4 3 1 3 1 0 1 4 Dwight Wildman rf......... 5 2 3 4 0 0 2 0 Leon Galemba dh........... 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Marc Garofalo 3b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Randy Re cf............... 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 Chris DeSantis 1b......... 4 1 2 0 0 0 10 0 Adam Hevenor c............ 3 0 0 0 1 0 6 1 Tom Koch ss............... 1 2 0 0 3 1 1 2 Ryan DiPietro p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Totals.................... 33 10 9 10 6 2 27 11 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Manchester College 000 000 000 - 0 3 1 E. Connecticut State 100 040 05 - 10 9 0 ---------------------------------------------- E - Seal. LOB - MC 5; ECSU 6. 2B - Pekrul(9). HR - Julien(4); Wildman(17). SB - Wildman(27); Re(3); Koch(14). CS - Minix. SH - Garofalo. Manchester College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Tyler Wolfe......... 7.0 6 5 4 4 2 27 32 Travis Sluss........ 1.0 3 5 5 2 0 6 8 E. Connecticut State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Ryan DiPietro....... 9.0 3 0 0 2 6 29 32 Win - DiPietro 10-0. Loss - Wolfe, T. 10-3. Save - None. WP - Wolfe, T.; Sluss. HBP - by DiPietro (Brock). Umpires - Home:Dennis Semph 1st:Michael Rosen 2nd:Manny Salazar 3rd:Gary Kalkopf Start: 1:14 pm Time: 2:08 Attendance: 1431
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Manchester College 000 000 000 - 0 3 1 E. Connecticut State 100 040 05 - 10 9 0 ---------------------------------------------- Manchester College inning 1 Tarnowski struck out swinging. Screeton struck out looking. Kurtz grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 1 Pekrul flied out to cf. Julien reached on a fielding error by 2b. Julien advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wildman singled to right field, RBI; Julien scored, unearned. Galemba flied out to cf. Wildman stole second. Garofalo flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB. Manchester College inning 2 Carr singled to center field. Minix struck out swinging. Brock hit by pitch; Carr advanced to second. Treesh struck out swinging. Hollenbaugh flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 2 Re flied out to rf. DeSantis fouled out to lf. Hevenor walked. Koch struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Manchester College inning 3 Seal popped up to 1b. Tarnowski flied out to lf. Screeton grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 3 Pekrul singled down the lf line. Julien out at first 1b to p; Pekrul advanced to second. Wildman fouled out to 1b; Pekrul advanced to third. Galemba struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Manchester College inning 4 Kurtz fouled out to lf. Carr struck out swinging. Minix singled down the lf line. Minix out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 4 Garofalo flied out to cf. Re grounded out to 2b. DeSantis singled to third base, bunt. Hevenor flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Manchester College inning 5 Brock walked. Treesh struck out looking. Hollenbaugh grounded out to p; Brock advanced to second. Seal flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 5 Koch walked. Pekrul walked; Koch advanced to second. Julien homered to left field, 3 RBI; Pekrul scored; Koch scored. Wildman singled to left field. Galemba flied out to lf. Garofalo grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Wildman advanced to third. Re singled to left field, RBI; Wildman scored. Re stole second. DeSantis grounded out to 1b unassisted. 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Manchester College inning 6 Tarnowski grounded out to 2b. Screeton grounded out to 2b. Kurtz grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 6 Hevenor fouled out to rf. Koch walked. Pekrul flied out to cf. Koch stole second. Julien flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Manchester College inning 7 Carr grounded out to 2b. Minix lined out to 3b. Brock flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 7 Wildman flied out to cf. Galemba flied out to lf. Garofalo flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Manchester College inning 8 Treesh walked. Hollenbaugh grounded out to ss; Treesh advanced to second. Seal flied out to lf. Custer pinch ran for Treesh. Tarnowski flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 8 Custer to rf. Sluss to p for Wolfe, T.. Re fouled out to c. DeSantis singled to left field. DeSantis advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hevenor grounded out to ss; DeSantis advanced to third. Koch walked. Pekrul doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; Koch scored; DeSantis scored. Julien walked. Wildman homered, 3 RBI; Julien scored; Pekrul scored. Galemba flied out to cf. 5 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Manchester College inning 9 Screeton singled to center field. Kurtz reached on a fielder's choice; Screeton out at second 3b to 2b. Carr flied out to lf. Minix grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.