Game 6 - May 28, 2005
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - Disregard the fact that most of the State University of New York-Cortland baseball players were operating on only a couple of hours sleep - if any sleep at all. Disregard the fact that the Red Dragons had to recover emotionally from a devastating come-from-behind loss to the College of Wooster just a few hours before, that put them in the precarious position of rallying from the elimination bracket of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at Fox Cities Stadium. And disregard the fact that the Red Dragons had to face a Hampden-Sydney College team that was in the same position, after the Tigers dropped a 10-0 decision the night before.
The fact was that Cortland State had to win, and it had to make a statement right away. And with Travis Robinson's (pictured right) two-run homer to right field in the first inning, and Erik Johnson's (pictured left) three-run triple to deep left field in the third, the Red Dragons made its statement loud and clear - its season would not end on Saturday. The Red Dragons (40-8-1) pounded out 12 hits and scored eight runs in the first three innings to overcome Hampden-Sydney (27-15) 9-6 in Saturday's second elimination game. Cortland State, which tied its school record for wins in a season, will face the loser of Saturday's Wisconsin-Whitewater/Chapman game in another elimination contest on Sunday at 12 noon at Fox Cities Stadium.
Cortland State had to come back from a 7-6 loss to the College of Wooster that ended a little over eight hours before they returned to Fox Cities Stadium this morning. The loss, after Cortland State had led 5-0 after two innings, was a tough one to digest, but Cortland State coach Joe Brown said his team had to be resilient. "That's what you have to do. It's part of the game and you have to adapt," Brown said. "At this point of the season, kids are going on adrenaline so much, that it's probably the coaches that need a little more rest than some of these guys. But they were up and ready to go this morning."
Cortland State continued its season-long trend of jumping on the board early. For the 23rd time this season, Cortland State scored in the first inning, popping two runs on Robinson's long home run with the wind to right field. Cortland State has now outscored its opponents 71-10 in the first innings of games this season, and are now 21-1-1 when it scores in its opening frame. "After that loss, we were just anxious to get back to the ballpark," said Robinson, who registered his fourth home run of the season. "You just want to get back there and swing the bat, come out fired up. Right now, we have our backs to the wall -- lose and go home - so we have to leave it all on the field."
The Red Dragons scored six runs in the third inning, sending 11 batters to the plate. Nine straight batters reached base, including a leadoff triple by Jimmy Basnight (pictured left) and the big blow of the game, a three-run, bases-clearing triple by Travis Robinson. Robinson's clout nearly left the park for a grand slam, but just hit near the top of the left-center wall. "The bases were loaded, so I was just looking for something to drive," Robinson said. "I got the pitch and hit it well. It was a fastball, mid-high. I was hoping it would go out, but I'll take it."
Eight of the nine starters in the Red Dragons' lineup had hits, with Basnight, Robinson, Johnson and Ricky Piovesan collecting two hits apiece. Robinson and Johnson each drove in three runs, and Robinson scored twice.
Hampden-Sydney, the only team in the eight-team field making its first-ever trip to the national finals, scored twice in the first three innings, both runs driven in by Mike Clark. He hit a single to center to drive in a run in the first inning, and stroked an RBI double past a diving Cortland State right-fielder Andy Mead in the third.
The Tigers' biggest threat came in the eighth inning, when they sent eight batters to the plate and scored four runs. The Tigers worked the bases loaded, and got a run-scoring single by designated hitter Joe Knowles. Another run came across after a double-play grounder, and a single by David Cameron and a passed ball plated two more runs.
"We fight hard. We may not fight well all the time, but we fight hard," said Hampden-Sydney coach Jeff Kinne. "It's kind of typical of our season. We just tried to battle back when we got down. We did a good job of that. I'm proud that we showed what we can do late."
Clark ended up 3-for-4 at the plate for the Tigers, while Chris Padgett (picture left) went 2-for-4 at the plate. Eight different Hampden-Sydney players scored as part of its 11-hit performance on Saturday, with Luke Brankley collecting a double.
Starter Jayson Hanky was driven from the game during Cortland State's early outburst, allowing eight runs and eight hits. Larry Greene pitched five-and-two-thirds innings of relief, striking out five and allowing just one run, on an eighth-inning RBI single by Cortland State's Basnight.
Cortland State used four pitchers in the contest, with starter Mike Burnett lasting seven innings and collecting five strikeouts against five walks and seven hits, improving to 9-2 on the season. Ryan Hooper and Justin Mattes pitched in relief, before Nick McPartland pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the year.
Cortland State has now won at least one championship finals game in each of its last six appearances in the final affair (1997-2001, 2005), including each of its three appearances in the tournament at Fox Cities Stadium. Cortland State has appeared in the finals seven times in program history.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Hampden-Sydney 6 (27-15) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Jay Lilley ss............ 5 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 John Apperson rf......... 2 1 1 0 3 0 5 0 0 Chris Padgett cf......... 4 1 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 Mike Clark 2b............ 4 1 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 Jason Bour c............. 4 1 0 0 1 2 7 2 1 Joe Knowles dh........... 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 Daniel Prieto pr........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 David Toney ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Tommy Burk 1b............ 2 0 1 0 0 0 6 1 0 Todd Harrell 3b.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 David Cameron ph/3b..... 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 Luke Brankley lf......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 Jayson Hanky p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Larry Greene p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals................... 34 6 11 4 6 6 24 8 9 SUNY-Cortland 9 (40-8-1) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Jimmy Basnight cf........ 5 1 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 Zach Tacelli lf.......... 4 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 Travis Robinson 1b....... 3 2 2 3 2 0 9 0 1 Andy Mead rf............. 4 1 1 0 0 1 5 0 2 Pat D'Auria dh........... 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 Steve Newman 2b.......... 4 1 1 1 0 0 3 2 0 Ricky Piovesan 3b........ 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 Erik Johnson c........... 4 0 2 3 0 1 5 1 0 Will Groff pr........... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Ensel c........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Nick Wilson ss........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 Mike Burnett p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Hooper p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Justin Mattes p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nick McPartland p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 33 9 12 9 4 7 27 7 6 Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Hampden-Sydney...... 101 000 040 - 6 11 1 SUNY-Cortland....... 206 000 01X - 9 12 0 ------------------------------------------- E - Harrell. DP - Cortland 3. LOB - HSC 9; Cortland 6. 2B - Clark(14); Brankley(6); Johnson(5). 3B - Basnight(4). HR - Robinson(4). HBP - Burk 2; Wilson. SH - Wilson. SB - Apperson(13); Tacelli(17). CS - Robinson(12); Piovesan(4). Hampden-Sydney IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Jayson Hanky........ 2.1 8 8 8 1 2 15 16 Larry Greene........ 5.2 4 1 1 3 5 18 23 SUNY-Cortland IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Mike Burnett........ 7.0 7 5 5 5 5 25 32 Ryan Hooper......... 0.2 3 1 0 0 0 4 4 Justin Mattes....... 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 Nick McPartland..... 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 4 4 Win - Burnett (9-2). Loss - Hanky (4-4). Save - McPartland (5). HBP - by Greene (Wilson); by Burnett (Burk); by Burnett (Burk). BK - Greene. PB - Bour; Johnson. Umpires - HP: Tim McIntyre 1B: Bob Lynn 2B: Wayne Shelton 3B: Bill Ryan Start: 1:15 pm Time: 2:46 Attendance: 1591
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Hampden-Sydney...... 101 000 040 - 6 11 1 SUNY-Cortland....... 206 000 01X - 9 12 0 ------------------------------------------- Hampden-Sydney starters: 8/ss Lilley; 24/rf Apperson; 19/cf Padgett; 7/2b Clark; 30/c Bour; 33/dh Knowles; 14/1b Burk; 5/3b Harrell; 1/lf Brankley; 12/p Hanky; SUNY-Cortland starters: 9/cf Basnight; 17/lf Tacelli; 23/1b Robinson; 3/rf Mead; 21/dh D'Auria; 6/2b Newman; 20/3b Piovesan; 16/c Johnson; 5/ss Wilson; 29/p Burnett; Hampden-Sydney 1st - Lilley flied out to rf. Apperson walked. Apperson stole second. Padgett walked. Clark singled up the middle, RBI; Padgett advanced to second; Apperson scored. Bour struck out swinging. Knowles struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 1st - Basnight flied out to rf. Tacelli singled to left field. Robinson homered to right field, 2 RBI; Tacelli scored. Mead struck out looking. D'Auria fouled out to 1b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 2nd - Burk singled to right center. Harrell struck out swinging. Brankley lined into double play 1b unassisted; Burk out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 2nd - Newman grounded out to 2b. Piovesan singled up the middle. Johnson reached on a fielder's choice; Piovesan out at second 3b to 2b. Wilson struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 3rd - Lilley singled to left field. Apperson walked; Lilley advanced to second. Padgett flied out to lf. Apperson out at first c to 1b, picked off. Clark doubled, RBI; Lilley scored. Bour struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 3rd - Basnight tripled to right center. Tacelli reached on a throwing error by 3b. Robinson singled to left field, RBI; Tacelli advanced to second; Basnight scored. Tacelli out at second p to ss, picked off. Mead singled, advanced to second on the throw; Robinson advanced to third. D'Auria singled to left field, RBI; Mead advanced to third; Robinson scored. Newman singled, bunt, RBI; D'Auria advanced to second; Mead scored. Piovesan walked; Newman advanced to second; D'Auria advanced to third. Greene to p for Hanky. Johnson doubled, 3 RBI; Piovesan scored; Newman scored; D'Auria scored. Wilson hit by pitch. Basnight flied out to rf. Tacelli struck out looking. 6 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 4th - Knowles struck out looking. Burk hit by pitch. Cameron pinch hit for Harrell. Cameron flied out to cf. Brankley flied out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 4th - Cameron to 3b. Robinson walked. Mead lined out to ss. D'Auria flied out to rf. Robinson out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 5th - Lilley flied out to 2b. Apperson singled to shortstop. Padgett singled to right field; Apperson advanced to second. Clark grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Padgett out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 5th - Newman fouled out to 1b. Piovesan singled to left field. Piovesan out at first c to 1b to 2b to 1b, caught stealing. Johnson struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 6th - Bour flied out to cf. Knowles flied out to rf. Burk hit by pitch. Cameron grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 6th - Wilson struck out swinging. Basnight struck out swinging. Tacelli walked. Tacelli stole second. Tacelli advanced to third on a balk. Robinson walked. Mead flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 7th - Brankley flied out to rf. Lilley flied out to 2b. Apperson flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 7th - D'Auria struck out swinging. Newman flied out to rf. Piovesan flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 8th - Padgett singled to right field. Clark walked; Padgett advanced to second. Bour walked; Clark advanced to second; Padgett advanced to third. Hooper to p for Burnett. Knowles singled to right field, RBI; Bour advanced to second; Clark advanced to third; Padgett scored. Prieto pinch ran for Knowles. Burk grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Prieto out on the play; Bour advanced to third; Clark scored. Cameron singled to right field, RBI; Bour scored. Brankley doubled to left field; Cameron advanced to third. Mattes to p for Hooper. Brankley advanced to third; Cameron scored, scored on a passed ball, unearned. Lilley grounded out to ss. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. SUNY-Cortland 8th - Johnson singled to left field. Groff pinch ran for Johnson. Wilson grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; Groff advanced to second. Basnight singled to left field, RBI; Groff scored. Basnight advanced to second on a passed ball. Tacelli flied out to cf; Basnight advanced to third. Robinson grounded out to 1b unassisted. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Hampden-Sydney 9th - Ensel to c for Groff. Apperson walked. McPartland to p for Mattes. Padgett struck out swinging. Clark singled to right field; Apperson advanced to second. Bour flied out to rf. Toney pinch hit for Prieto. Toney flied out to 1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated June 2005