Game 7 - May 27, 2006
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Devin Drag was as good as advertised. The Chapman University standout pitcher tossed a six-hit shutout, as the Panthers beat Wheaton (Mass.) College 3-0 Saturday night in a winner's bracket game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium.
"It's at the top (of my performances this season) because it's the World Series," said Drag (pictured left),a junior from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. "I don't take any game lightly. I go 100 percent every time." Drag, who leads the nation in earned run average, struck out 12 and walked only three. He caught seven Wheaton batters looking at strike three. "That was the pitch they were looking at," Drag said of his slider. "I felt like I was in command the whole game." Drag, who improved to 10-1 on the season, lowered his ERA to 0.72.
"We knew coming in how good he was," Wheaton head coach Eric Podbelski said. "I looked at his numbers on the stat sheet, and I thought it was a misprint. Obviously, it wasn't." Chapman (33-11) advances to play Sunday at 7 p.m. against the winner of the late game Saturday between Marietta College and Montclair State University. Wheaton (39-9) will play Sunday at noon in an elimination game against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (35-17).
The Lyons made it even tougher on themselves by getting behind early, as Chapman struck for three runs in the top of the first. Lead-off hitter Jarrod Sammet singled to start the game and Brian Brubaker was then hit by a pitch. Wheaton starting pitcher Chris Martin then fielded a bunt from Tyler Dean and threw wildly past third to load the bases. After a sacrifice fly by John Alexander scored Sammet, Patrick Ohail (pictured right) followed with a two-run double to put the Panthers up 3-0.
Chapman shortstop, Kurt Yacko pictured left.
"It makes it a lot easier to pitch with a lead," Drag said. "I still think of it as a close game no matter what the score is. (Having the lead) leaves you a room to make a mistake." Drag looked comfortable from the start, as the first four outs by Wheaton came on called third strikes. "Devin is really dominating. It was just a great performance by him," Chapman head coach Tom Tereschuk said. "We were in a lot of situations to score runs but we didn't get that key hit. It was important that he shut them down. For us to be fortunate to get some runs early and have Devin out there, it leaves everyone feeling confident."
Chapman got serious scoring threats going in the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings but couldn't push any more runs across. The Panthers stranded 14 runners for the game.
"Once we got in that hole we couldn't dig ourselves out no matter how hard we tried," Podbelski said. "We pulled out all the stops we could. The pitchers battled and kept it as close as they could." The Lyons got only four runners as far as second base but did get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Drag walked Mark Baumer and Brandon Leonard followed with a single up the middle. After a fly out and right on cue, Drag struck out Rafael Castillo looking to end the game.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Chapman 3 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Jarrod Sammet rf.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Brian Brubaker lf......... 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 Tyler Dean 3b............. 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 John Alexander c.......... 3 0 1 1 1 0 12 0 Patrick Ohail 1b.......... 5 0 3 2 0 0 8 0 Steve Fraser cf........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 Tyler Norman dh........... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Kyle Redding 2b........... 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 Kurt Yacko ss............. 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 4 Devin Drag p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 33 3 10 3 4 4 27 9 Wheaton 0 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Rafael Castillo ss........ 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 Jake Yagilian 2b.......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 Andy Koocher 1b........... 3 0 1 0 1 0 9 0 Scott Guillerault 3b...... 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 Adam Laplante c........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 Pat O'Conner rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 Mark Baumer dh............ 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 Brandon Leonard cf........ 3 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 Travis Anthoine lf........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 Chris Martin p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Josh Moore p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Josh Simmons p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Keith Pescosoildo p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jared Barnes p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 32 0 6 0 3 12 27 9 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Chapman 300 000 000 - 3 10 2 Wheaton 000 000 000 - 0 6 2 ---------------------------------------------- E - Yacko 2; R Castillo; C Martin. DP - Chapman 2; Wheaton 1. LOB - Chapman 14; Wheaton 10. 2B - T Dean; Ohail 2; Yacko. SB - Leonard. SH - Sammet; T Norman 2; Anthoine. SF - Alexander. Chapman IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Devin Drag.......... 9.0 6 0 0 3 12 32 37 Wheaton IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Chris Martin........ 2.1 4 3 2 1 1 11 15 Josh Moore.......... 3.0 2 0 0 1 0 9 13 Josh Simmons........ 1.2 2 0 0 1 2 6 8 Keith Pescosoildo... 0.1 2 0 0 1 0 3 4 Jared Barnes........ 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 4 4 Win - Drag 10-1. Loss - C Martin 7-2. Save - None. HBP - by C Martin (Brubaker); by C Martin (Fraser); by J Moore (Brubaker); by Drag (Leonard). Umpires - Home:Scott Behn 1st:Mike Walsh 2nd:Andre Lanoue 3rd:Kevin Joyce Start: 6:30pm Time: 2:18 Attendance: 1278
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Chapman 300 000 000 - 3 10 2 Wheaton 000 000 000 - 0 6 2 ---------------------------------------------- Chapman inning 1 Sammet singled to right field. Brubaker hit by pitch; Sammet advanced to second. T Dean reached on a fielder's choice; Brubaker advanced to second; Sammet advanced to third on a throwing error by p. Alexander flied out to cf, SF, RBI; T Dean advanced to second; Brubaker advanced to third; Sammet scored, unearned. Ohail doubled to left field, 2 RBI; T Dean scored; Brubaker scored. Fraser reached on a fielder's choice; Ohail advanced to third on a throwing error by ss. T Norman struck out swinging. Redding flied out to lf. 3 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB. Wheaton inning 1 R Castillo struck out looking. Yaglian singled down the rf line. Koocher walked; Yaglian advanced to second. Guillerault struck out looking. Laplante struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Chapman inning 2 Yacko grounded out to ss. Sammet grounded out to p. Brubaker walked. T Dean flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wheaton inning 2 O'Conner struck out looking. Baumer reached on a throwing error by ss. Leonard singled to left field; Baumer advanced to second. Anthoine grounded into double play 2b to 1b; Leonard out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 3 Alexander singled up the middle. Ohail singled down the lf line; Alexander advanced to second, out at third lf to 3b. Fraser hit by pitch; Ohail advanced to second. J Moore to p for C Martin. T Norman grounded out to p unassisted, SAC, bunt; Fraser advanced to second; Ohail advanced to third. Redding lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wheaton inning 3 R Castillo struck out looking. Yaglian struck out swinging. Koocher singled down the lf line. Guillerault fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 4 Yacko singled to right center. Sammet grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; Yacko advanced to second. Brubaker hit by pitch. T Dean flied out to rf; Yacko advanced to third. Alexander flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wheaton inning 4 Laplante grounded out to 2b. O'Conner grounded out to ss. Baumer struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 5 Ohail flied out to lf. Fraser flied out to rf. T Norman walked. Redding popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Wheaton inning 5 Leonard hit by pitch. Anthoine struck out looking. Leonard stole second. R Castillo reached on a fielding error by ss. Yaglian grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; R Castillo out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 6 Yacko doubled to center field. Sammet grounded out to 2b; Yacko advanced to third. Simmons to p for J Moore. Brubaker struck out looking. T Dean walked. Alexander grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wheaton inning 6 Koocher flied out to lf. Guillerault struck out swinging. Laplante singled through the left side. O'Conner reached on a fielder's choice; Laplante out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 7 Ohail doubled down the rf line. Fraser singled to right field; Ohail advanced to third. T Norman grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC; Fraser advanced to second. Redding flied out to rf. Yacko struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wheaton inning 7 Baumer struck out swinging. Leonard singled through the left side. Anthoine grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; Leonard advanced to second. R Castillo grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 8 Pescosoildo to p for Simmons. Sammet grounded out to 2b. Brubaker singled through the left side. T Dean doubled to left center; Brubaker advanced to third. Alexander intentionally walked. Barnes to p for Pescosoildo. Ohail grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Alexander out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Wheaton inning 8 Yaglian grounded out to ss. Koocher popped up to ss. Guillerault walked. Laplante flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 9 Fraser struck out looking. T Norman flied out to cf. Redding popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Wheaton inning 9 O'Conner struck out swinging. Baumer walked. Leonard singled up the middle; Baumer advanced to second. Anthoine flied out to cf. R Castillo struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated May 2006