Game 5 - May 27, 2006
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Bill Holowaty gave his team some words to live by early in the season. "We might lose but we'll never quit," the veteran Eastern Connecuticut State University head coach had told his squad.
The Warriors embraced those words Saturday in an elimination game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium. Eastern Connecticut rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat North Carolina Wesleyan University 9-8. "They keep surprising me," Holowaty said.
Eastern Connecticut (36-19) advances to play either Montclair State University or Marietta College in an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. North Carolina Wesleyan ends its season with a 31-19 record.
The Battling Bishops grabbed the lead in the top of the ninth against Eastern reliever Matt Cremins. A single, walk and hit batsman loaded the bases with two outs, and the Warriors looked like they would get out of the inning undamaged when Nathan West grounded to shortstop Zack Thomas. The ball skidded under his glove and Ryan Snyder and pinch-runner Jeremy Tucker scored to put Wesleyan up 8-6.
The drama was far from over when Chris DeSantis walked to open the ninth for Eastern. That prompted Long to bring in closer Cale Strickland, but he allowed a single to Shawn Gilblair and then hit Thomas. "It's been a rollercoaster for him," Wesleyan head coach Charlie Long said of Strickland. "Sometimes he gets it done and sometimes he doesn't." Zach Mehrbach stepped to the plate, and he doubled down the right field line to score DeSantis and pinch-runner Sean Kukucka and tie the game at 8-8.
"I didn't think it was the greatest swing, but I got lucky. Another foot and it's foul," Mehrbach said. "After (Strickland) threw that first fastball for a strike, I was sitting on anything hard on the plate." The Bishops then intentionally walked Matt Cooney (pictured above left), who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, to load the bases and set up a force play at the plate. Strickland got Eric O'Toole to fly out and the runners held for the first out of the inning. Greg Sullivan (pictured right) then executed a squeeze to score Thomas with the winning run. "I was just looking to get the squeeze down," said Sullivan, who went 3-for-6 in the contest. "That was a heckuva bunt," said Holowaty, who credited associate head coach Bob Wojick with making that decisive call. "I have a hard time squeezing with the bases loaded because of the force play at home."
The Battling Bishops were true to their nickname by posting three rallies in the final three innings. Wesleyan trailed 4-1 headed into the top of the seventh when they put together four hits, including run-scoring singles from Chris Pecora and Matt Smith (pictured left), to score three times and chase Gilblair, who stayed in the game as the designated hitter. "I told our team you could have turned it in at 4-1, but that's not what we've done," Long said.
Eastern came right back to score twice in the bottom of the seventh when Cooney delivered a two-run single to give the Warriors a 6-4 lead. The see-saw continued in the top of the eighth when Eastern reliever Sam Iverson walked the first two batters of the inning. Iverson gave way to Alex Narus, but he gave up a run-scoring single to West and Luke Williford squeezed in another run to tie the game at 6-6.
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NC Wesleyan 8 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Chris Pecora rf........... 5 2 3 1 0 1 1 0 Robert Johnson 3b......... 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Matthew Smith cf.......... 5 0 3 2 0 0 3 0 Ryan Snyder 2b............ 5 1 0 0 0 1 5 5 Mark Wooten 1b............ 4 1 0 0 1 2 11 0 Kenny Flythe dh........... 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 James Smith pr............ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jeremy Tucker dh.......... 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Ted Williams c............ 2 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 Nathan West ss............ 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 Luke Williford lf......... 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 Kyle Robertson p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Ben Moore p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Cale Strickland p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 38 8 12 6 4 5 25 13 Eastern Conn State 9 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Greg Sullivan lf.......... 6 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 Marc Garofalo 2b.......... 5 1 1 1 0 1 1 3 Randy Re cf............... 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Chris DeSantis 1b......... 2 3 1 0 2 0 10 0 Shawn Gilblair p/dh....... 4 1 2 1 0 1 0 1 Sean Kulucka pr........... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Zack Thomas ss............ 3 2 2 0 0 0 4 1 Zach Mehrbach 3b.......... 4 0 1 2 1 0 1 2 Matt Cooney c............. 3 0 3 3 2 0 5 3 Eric O'Toole rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 Sam Iverson p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alex Narus p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Matt Cremins p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals.................... 36 9 14 8 5 2 27 10 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan 100 000 322 - 8 12 1 Eastern Conn State 000 130 203 - 9 14 2 ---------------------------------------------- Note: 1 out, 3 runner(s) LOB when the game ended. E - N West; C DeSantis; Z Thomas. DP - ECSU 1. LOB - NC Wesleyan 10; ECSU 12. 2B - T Williams; Garofalo; C DeSantis; Mehrbach. 3B - G Sullivan. CS - R Johnson; Re. SH - T Williams; Williford; Z Thomas; O'Toole. NC Wesleyan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Kyle Robertson...... 5.0 8 4 3 2 2 22 26 Ben Moore........... 3.0 3 3 3 2 0 10 14 Cale Strickland..... 0.1 3 2 2 1 0 4 6 Eastern Conn State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Shawn Gilblair...... 6.1 8 4 3 1 5 27 28 Sam Iverson......... 0.2 1 2 2 2 0 3 5 Alex Narus.......... 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 Matt Cremins........ 1.1 1 2 0 1 0 6 8 Win - Cremins 5-5. Loss - Strickland 0-3. Save - None. BK - B Moore. HBP - by K Robertson (C DeSantis); by B Moore (S Gilblair); by Cremins (T Williams); by Strickland (Z Thomas). Umpires - Home:Kevin Joyce 1st:Scott Behn 2nd:Mike Walsh 3rd:Andre Lanoue Start: 10:00 Time: 2:52 Attendance: 1005 K Robertson faced 1 batter in the 6th. Iverson faced 2 batters in the 8th. B Moore faced 1 batter in the 9th.
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Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan 100 000 322 - 8 12 1 Eastern Conn State 000 130 203 - 9 14 2 ---------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan inning 1 Pecora singled up the middle. R Johnson reached on a fielder's choice; Pecora advanced to second on a throwing error by 1b. M Smith singled to right field, RBI; R Johnson advanced to second; Pecora scored, unearned. R Snyder struck out swinging. M Smith advanced to second; R Johnson out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. Wooten struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 1 G Sullivan singled through the right side. Garofalo grounded out to 2b; G Sullivan advanced to second. Re grounded out to ss; G Sullivan advanced to third. C DeSantis hit by pitch. S Gilblair struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 2 Flythe singled through the left side. T Williams struck out swinging. N West popped up to 2b. Williford popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 2 Z Thomas singled to right field. Mehrbach grounded out to 1b unassisted; Z Thomas advanced to second. Cooney singled to shortstop. O'Toole grounded out to 3b; Cooney advanced to second; Z Thomas advanced to third. G Sullivan grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 3 Pecora flied out to rf. R Johnson grounded out to p. M Smith grounded out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 3 Garofalo struck out looking. Re popped up to 2b. C DeSantis flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 4 R Snyder flied out to rf. Wooten struck out looking. Flythe singled through the right side. T Williams walked; Flythe advanced to second. N West grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 4 S Gilblair singled up the middle. Z Thomas out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; S Gilblair advanced to second. Mehrbach grounded out to 2b; S Gilblair advanced to third. Cooney singled to right field, RBI; S Gilblair scored. O'Toole reached on a fielder's choice, out at second ss to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 5 Williford singled through the left side. Pecora struck out swinging. R Johnson reached on a fielder's choice; Williford advanced to second. M Smith grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; R Johnson out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 5 G Sullivan tripled to right field. Garofalo doubled down the lf line, RBI; G Sullivan scored. Re flied out to lf; Garofalo advanced to third. C DeSantis intentionally walked. S Gilblair grounded out to 2b, RBI; C DeSantis advanced to second; Garofalo scored. Z Thomas singled to shortstop, advanced to second on a throwing error by ss; C DeSantis scored, unearned. Mehrbach grounded out to 2b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 6 R Snyder flied out to rf. Wooten fouled out to 1b. Flythe grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 6 Cooney walked. B Moore to p for K Robertson. O'Toole grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC, bunt; Cooney advanced to second. G Sullivan flied out to cf. Garofalo popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 7 T Williams doubled down the lf line. N West flied out to cf. Williford singled up the middle; T Williams advanced to third. Pecora singled up the middle, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; Williford advanced to third; T Williams scored. S Gilblair to dh. Iverson to p. R Johnson grounded out to 2b, RBI; Pecora advanced to third; Williford scored. M Smith singled to center field, RBI; Pecora scored. R Snyder flied out to lf. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 7 Re grounded out to p. C DeSantis doubled down the lf line. S Gilblair hit by pitch. Z Thomas reached on a fielder's choice; S Gilblair out at second ss to 2b; C DeSantis advanced to third. Mehrbach walked; Z Thomas advanced to second. Cooney singled up the middle, 2 RBI; Mehrbach advanced to second; Z Thomas scored; C DeSantis scored. Cooney advanced to second; Mehrbach advanced to third on a balk. O'Toole grounded out to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 8 Wooten walked. Flythe walked; Wooten advanced to second. Narus to p for Iverson. T Williams grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Flythe advanced to second; Wooten advanced to third. J Smith pinch ran for Flythe. N West singled to center field, RBI; J Smith advanced to third; Wooten scored. Williford grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC, bunt, RBI; N West advanced to second; J Smith scored. Pecora singled to right field; N West advanced to third. Cremins to p for Narus. R Johnson lined out to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 8 G Sullivan flied out to cf. Garofalo flied out to rf. Re singled to center field. Re out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 9 M Smith singled to left field. R Snyder reached on a fielder's choice; M Smith out at second c to ss. Wooten fouled out to 1b. J Tucker to dh for J Smith. J Tucker walked; R Snyder advanced to second. T Williams hit by pitch; J Tucker advanced to second; R Snyder advanced to third. N West reached on a fielding error by ss; T Williams advanced to third; J Tucker scored, unearned; R Snyder scored, unearned. Williford fouled out to p. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB. Eastern Conn State inning 9 C DeSantis walked. Strickland to p for B Moore. S Gilblair singled through the left side; C DeSantis advanced to second. Kulucka pinch ran for S Gilblair. Z Thomas hit by pitch; Kulucka advanced to second; C DeSantis advanced to third. Mehrbach doubled down the rf line, 2 RBI; Z Thomas advanced to third; Kulucka scored; C DeSantis scored. Cooney intentionally walked. O'Toole flied out to cf. G Sullivan singled to pitcher, RBI; Cooney advanced to second; Mehrbach advanced to third; Z Thomas scored. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Updated May 2006