Game 5 - May 28, 2005
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - If Matt Scherbring is this good when he has flu, look out when he's healthy. The Wartburg College pitcher tossed a complete game and got some superlative defense in the Knights' 4-1 win over Trinity (Conn.) College in an elimination game Saturday at the 2005 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium. Wartburg (36-10) advances to face either Rowan University or the College of Wooster in an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Scherbring (pictured left) , who improved his record to 12-1 on the season, went the distance, scattering 10 hits while striking out three and walking two. "What a gutsy performance," Wartburg coach Joel Holst said of Scherbring, who has been fighting the flu for about a week. "That's what he's done all year. That was just awesome. That's what great pitchers are able to do. They can elevate when they have to."
Scherbring scuffled a bit through the first two innings and threw a lot of pitches early. The first Trinity batter of the game, Matt Engster, scored on a ground out after reaching on an error, but that was the lone defensive miscue for the Knights. "After I settled down after the first couple innings, I realized my stamina wasn't there. I had to get them to get themselves out," Scherbring said. "I just go out there and let (my defense) take care of the ball. They do a great job."
The Knights turned a pair of double plays and made a number of other sparkling plays in the field. The Wartburg defense helped offset 10 hits by the Bantams, who finished the season at 35-6.
"They are a great hitting team," Scherbring said of Trinity. "They were putting the bat on the ball. We just made some plays." Trinity coach Bill Decker said the Bantams simply weren't able to cash in on several quality scoring chances. "We didn't have anything to show for (the 10 base hits). You have to tip your hat to the kid from Wartburg (Scherbring)," Decker said. "I'm pretty disappointed, not in what it took to get us here, but in what we did when we got here."
After the Bantams took the lead in the top of the first, Wartburg came back to tie the score in the bottom of the first against Trinity starter Tim Kiely, who took his first loss of the season (7-1). Wartburg's first two hitters of the game, Aaron Port (pictured right) and Marc Numedahl, both singled and a sacrifice bunt moved them up a base. Port then scored on Joel Reynolds' (pictured left) ground out.
The Knights took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the third and were aided by a pair of Trinity errors. Patrick Henderson led off the inning with a walk and Port reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. After a ground out and foul out, both runners scored when the shortstop made an errant throw to first on Reynolds' ground ball.
Wartburg added an insurance run in the seventh, and that rally was started when Numedahl reached on a fielding error by the second baseman. After a wild pitch and hit batsman, Reynolds singled to center field to score Numedahl and put the Knights up 4-1.
The Bantams threatened in the ninth when Rob O'Leary doubled with one out and pinch hitter Chandler Barnard followed with an infield single to put runners at the corners. Scherbring then got Engster to ground into a fielder's choice, and he struck out Jeff Natale looking to end the game.
Scherbring said despite the flu, he was ready to take the mound at Fox Cities Stadium. "There was no doubt in my mind I was going to be pitching," he said. "You're not going to let an opportunity like this pass."
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Trinity College 1 (35-6) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Matt Engster cf.......... 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 Jeff Natale 3b........... 5 0 2 0 0 1 1 3 4 Aaron Goldstein rf....... 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 Andrew Fries c........... 4 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 Ben Silvanic dh.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Billy Wise 2b............ 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 3 Erik Paisley 1b.......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 10 2 0 Rob O'Leary lf........... 4 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 Tim Bourdon ss........... 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 Chandler Barnard ph..... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tim Kiely p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 Totals................... 36 1 10 1 2 3 24 11 10 Wartburg College 4 (36-10) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Aaron Port rf............ 3 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 Marc Numedahl 2b......... 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 Casey Pauli ss........... 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 5 0 Joel Reynolds 1b......... 4 0 1 2 0 0 11 0 0 Brian Greiner c.......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 6 Chris. Robertson 3b...... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Brandon Steinbrecher dh.. 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kyle Blacker lf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Patrick Henderson cf..... 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 Matthew Scherbring p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Totals................... 30 4 4 2 1 3 27 15 7 Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Trinity College..... 100 000 000 - 1 10 5 Wartburg College.... 102 000 10X - 4 4 1 ------------------------------------------- E - Natale; Wise; Bourdon 3; Pauli. DP - Trinity 1; Wartburg 2. LOB - Trinity 10; Wartburg 7. 2B - Natale(18); O'Leary(6). HBP - Port; Pauli. SH - Numedahl; Pauli. SB - Reynolds(4). Trinity College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Tim Kiely........... 8.0 4 4 1 1 3 30 35 Wartburg College IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Matthew Scherbring.. 9.0 10 1 0 2 3 36 38 Win - Scherbring (12-1). Loss - Kiely (7-1). Save - None. WP - Kiely. HBP - by Kiely (Port); by Kiely (Pauli). Umpires - HP: Steve Reinhardt 1B: Tim Carey 2B: Don Umland 3B: Andre Lanoue Start: 9:57 am Time: 2:04 Attendance: 1285
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Trinity College..... 100 000 000 - 1 10 5 Wartburg College.... 102 000 10X - 4 4 1 ------------------------------------------- Trinity College starters: 5/cf Engster; 28/3b Natale; 21/rf Goldstein; 10/c Fries; 18/dh Silvanic; 1/2b Wise; 22/1b Paisley; 9/lf O'Leary; 7/ss Bourdon; 6/p Kiely; Wartburg College starters: 43/rf Port; 11/2b Numedahl; 2/ss Pauli; 18/1b Reynolds; 9/c Greiner; 28/3b Robertson; 21/dh Steinbrecher; 16/lf Blacker; 5/cf Henderson; 1/p Scherbring; Trinity College 1st - Engster reached on a fielding error by ss. Natale doubled to left center; Engster advanced to third. Goldstein walked. Fries reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Goldstein out at second ss to 2b; Natale advanced to third; Engster scored, unearned. Silvanic struck out swinging. Wise flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB. Wartburg College 1st - Port singled to left field. Numedahl singled to right field; Port advanced to second. Pauli grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Numedahl advanced to second; Port advanced to third. Reynolds grounded out to 3b, RBI; Port scored. Greiner lined out to lf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Trinity College 2nd - Paisley struck out swinging. O'Leary singled down the lf line. Bourdon flied out to rf. Engster singled to shortstop; O'Leary advanced to second. Natale grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wartburg College 2nd - Robertson struck out swinging. Steinbrecher grounded out to 3b. Blacker out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Trinity College 3rd - Goldstein walked. Fries singled to left field; Goldstein advanced to second. Silvanic reached on a fielder's choice; Fries out at second 3b to 2b; Goldstein advanced to third. Wise grounded into double play ss to 1b; Silvanic out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wartburg College 3rd - Henderson walked. Port reached on a fielding error by ss; Henderson advanced to second. Numedahl grounded out to 2b; Port advanced to second; Henderson advanced to third. Pauli fouled out to 3b. Reynolds reached on a throwing error by 3b; Port scored, unearned; Henderson scored, unearned. Reynolds stole second. Greiner struck out swinging. 2 runs, 0 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Trinity College 4th - Paisley flied out to lf. O'Leary flied out to cf. Bourdon grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wartburg College 4th - Robertson reached on a throwing error by ss. Steinbrecher grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Robertson out on the play. Blacker reached on a fielding error by ss. Henderson struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Trinity College 5th - Engster grounded out to 3b. Natale singled to right center. Goldstein grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Natale out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wartburg College 5th - Port hit by pitch. Numedahl grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; Port advanced to second. Pauli singled to third base, bunt; Port advanced to third. Reynolds lined out to ss. Greiner flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Trinity College 6th - Fries lined out to 1b. Silvanic out at first p to 2b to 1b. Wise singled to third base. Paisley singled through the right side; Wise advanced to second. O'Leary grounded out to p. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wartburg College 6th - Robertson grounded out to 2b. Steinbrecher fouled out to 1b. Blacker flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Trinity College 7th - Bourdon singled to center field. Engster reached on a fielder's choice; Bourdon out at second p to ss. Natale flied out to rf. Goldstein popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wartburg College 7th - Henderson flied out to lf. Port out at first 1b to p. Numedahl reached on a fielding error by 2b. Numedahl advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pauli hit by pitch. Reynolds singled to center field, RBI; Pauli advanced to second; Numedahl scored, unearned. Greiner grounded out to 1b unassisted. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB. Trinity College 8th - Fries flied out to lf. Silvanic grounded out to ss. Wise grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wartburg College 8th - Robertson grounded out to ss. Steinbrecher popped up to ss. Blacker flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Trinity College 9th - Paisley grounded out to 1b unassisted. O'Leary doubled to right field. Barnard pinch hit for Bourdon. Barnard singled to first base; O'Leary advanced to third. Engster reached on a fielder's choice; Barnard out at second p to ss. Natale struck out looking. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated June 2005