Game 12 - May 31, 2004
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - For much of the evening, Eastern Connecticut State University head coach Bill Holowaty had been second-guessing his decision-making process. His Warriors had just lost a tight game earlier in the day, and were facing elimination from the finals of the 2004 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, trailing 1-0 in the ninth inning to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dwight Wildman (pictured below left) helped erase any doubts the veteran head coach may have had, belting a two-run home run that carried 400-plus feet over a 20-foot-high fence in center field to give Eastern Connecticut a 2-1 victory over the Warhawks. The victory advances the Warriors to championship day of the tournament.
"That [ninth inning] was a nightmare," Holowaty said. "We were rolling the dice there, you're the home team and probably should bunt, I'm saying roll the dice, [we're] dammed if we do, and dammed if we don't."
With second baseman Eugene Julian (pictured below right) at first after a leadoff single that ended the night of UW-Whitewater starter Greg Reinhard, Holowaty let his powerful right fielder swing away. Facing right hander Collin Kuecker, Wildman took the first pitch - a curveball that just missed the zone for ball one, he got a low and away offering to make the count 2-0. "I didn't think I'd see anything much to hit," Wildman said. "At 2-0, with Eugene on first, I'm thinking I'm going to see a fastball. I just sat on it and he threw it right there."
The shot capped a stunning comeback, considering the Warriors had little to any success getting to Reinhard in the previous eight innings. The right hander used his change up to fluster the Eastern Connecticut offense, allowing just four hits, while striking out five. The Warriors were relegated to settling for a series of ground outs, and hit into a pair of double plays.
UW-Whitewater broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth, when shortstop Ross Klawitter (pictured above right) belted a two-out, run-scoring double down the right field line that scored designated hitter Steve Jilot. Second baseman Nic Teach singled next and the Warhawks' chance to extend the lead was thwarted when Klawitter was thrown out at home plate to end the inning.
Still, it looked for a while like one run would be more than enough to win the ballgame. "The guy made a great throw, the ball was hit hard," Vodenlich said. "You put all those things together and he gets thrown out at the plate by inches."
With Reinhard still cruising in the ninth, Vodenlich opted to go to Kuecker in an effort to create better matchups. "I decided to go to Kuecker, which was a righty on righty switch," Vodenlich said. "Had we got to the next guy, we would have brought in [Kevin] Tomasiewicz to get the lefty on lefty match up and let him close out the game." "I did not take [Reinhard] out because he couldn't [close the game], I thought it was a better match up with Kuecker. If he gets that first pitch strike, I think it changes everything from then on."
Bongiovanni (pictured above left) turned in a solid outing himself, giving up a run on six hits with five strike outs in seven innings of work and was especially effective in shutting down UW-Whitewater first baseman Brady Endl.
After Bongiovanni gave up double to third baseman Eric Stangel to lead off the eighth, Holowaty brought All-American Ryan DiPietro in from the bullpen to face Endl, the National Player of the Year. "I told [DiPietro], don't give anything up to [Endl], nothing up and in," Bongiovanni said. "Make it something down and away, something slow." DiPietro used that advice, and threw an outside fastball, curveball, and fastball up and in to strike Endl out looking, capping off an 0-for-4 day. Further, the Warriors staff held the meat of UW-Whitewater's line up to just two hits - both from Stangel - in 15 at bats.
DiPietro picked up the win, his 11th of the season, and his fourth career NCAA Tournament win. He has yet to allow a run in this year's tournament, where opposing batters have posted an anemic .103 average in 11 innings of work.
The loss ended UW-Whitewater's first trip to the finals since 1989, and the Warhawks season at 39-9.
Eastern Connecticut improved its mark to 42-10 and will advance to to face either George Fox University.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Wisconsin-Whitewater 1 (39-9)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Ryan Callahan cf.......... 5 0 1 0 0 1 5 0
Dan Gnatzig lf............ 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Eric Stangel 3b........... 3 0 2 0 1 1 1 1
Brady Endl 1b............. 4 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
Aaron Guilbault c......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 2
Eric Baldwin rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Steve Jilot dh............ 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
Ross Klawitter ss......... 3 0 1 1 1 1 1 5
Nic Teach 2b.............. 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 2
Greg Reinhard p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Collin Kuecker p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.................... 34 1 7 1 4 7 24 10
E. Connecticut State 2 (42-10)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Jason Pekrul lf........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 6 1
Eugene Julien 2b.......... 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 1
Dwight Wildman rf......... 4 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Zach Mehrbach 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Marc Garofalo 3b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Randy Re cf............... 3 0 1 0 0 2 1 0
Leon Galemba dh........... 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Adam Hevenor c............ 2 0 0 0 1 1 8 0
Tom Koch ss............... 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
Ty Bongiovanni p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ryan DiPietro p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.................... 27 2 5 2 3 5 27 6
Score by innings: R H E
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Wisconsin-Whitewater 000 100 000 - 1 7 1
E. Connecticut State 000 000 002 - 2 5 1
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Note: None out, 0 runner(s) LOB when the game ended.
E - Reinhard; Julien.
DP - UWW 2. LOB - UWW 10; ECSU 4.
2B - Stangel; Klawitter(14).
HR - Wildman(19).
SB - Jilot(4). CS - Hevenor.
Wisconsin-Whitewater IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Greg Reinhard....... 8.0 4 1 1 3 5 26 29
Collin Kuecker...... 0.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
E. Connecticut State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Ty Bongiovanni...... 7.0 6 1 1 3 5 27 30
Ryan DiPietro....... 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 7 8
Win - DiPietro 11-0. Loss - Kuecker 1-1. Save - None.
PB - Guilbault.
Umpires - Home:Dan Eversole 1st:Gary Kalkopf 2nd:Manny Salazar 3rd:Michael Rosen
Start: 5:44 pm Time: 2:12 Attendance: 1636
Bongiovanni faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Reinhard faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Kuecker faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Wisconsin-Whitewater 000 100 000 - 1 7 1 E. Connecticut State 000 000 002 - 2 5 1 ---------------------------------------------- Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 1 Callahan grounded out to ss. Gnatzig walked. Stangel struck out looking. Endl popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 1 Pekrul flied out to cf. Julien grounded out to ss. Wildman flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 2 Guilbault struck out looking. Baldwin popped up to 2b. Jilot singled to right field. Jilot stole second. Klawitter grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 2 Mehrbach grounded out to ss. Garofalo grounded out to ss. Re struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 3 Teach grounded out to 3b. Callahan struck out looking. Gnatzig singled to center field. Stangel singled to left field; Gnatzig advanced to second. Endl grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 3 Galemba struck out swinging. Hevenor struck out swinging, reached first on a passed ball. Hevenor out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. Koch grounded out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 4 Guilbault lined out to ss. Baldwin popped up to 1b. Jilot walked. Klawitter doubled down the rf line, RBI; Jilot scored. Teach singled to left field; Klawitter advanced to third, out at home lf to c. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 4 Pekrul singled to right field. Julien walked; Pekrul advanced to second. Wildman grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Julien out on the play; Pekrul advanced to third. Mehrbach flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 5 Callahan lined out to ss. Gnatzig flied out to lf. Stangel walked. Endl grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 5 Garofalo flied out to rf. Re singled to left field. Re advanced to second on a throwing error by p, advanced to third, failed pickoff attempt. Galemba walked. Hevenor grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Galemba out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 6 Guilbault flied out to lf. Baldwin reached on a fielding error by 2b. Jilot flied out to lf. Klawitter struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 6 Koch popped up to 3b. Pekrul grounded out to 3b. Julien singled to center field. Wildman flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 7 Teach struck out looking. Callahan flied out to lf. Gnatzig grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 7 Mehrbach flied out to cf. Garofalo flied out to cf. Re struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 8 Stangel doubled to center field. DiPietro to p for Bongiovanni. Endl struck out looking. Guilbault flied out to lf. Baldwin flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 8 Galemba struck out swinging. Hevenor walked. Koch flied out to cf. Pekrul popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wisconsin-Whitewater inning 9 Jilot struck out swinging. Klawitter walked. Teach flied out to cf. Callahan singled to left field; Klawitter advanced to second. Gnatzig fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. E. Connecticut State inning 9 Julien singled to right field. Kuecker to p for Reinhard. Wildman homered, 2 RBI; Julien scored. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Updated June 2004