Game 11 - May 28, 2006
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
The Marietta College baseball team was as hot as the weather Sunday night at Fox Cities Stadium. With temperatures hovering around an unseasonably steamy 90 degrees, the Pioneers pounded out 15 hits and rolled to a 10-4 victory over Chapman University in a winner’s bracket game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
“To go deep in one of these tournaments you have to get hot at the right time,” Marietta head coach Brian Brewer said. “We’re hot right now.” The Pioneers roughed up Chapman’s vaunted pitching staff, which entered the tournament with a 2.57 earned run average.
Marietta is now 3-for-3 in its appearances at Fox Cities Stadium, as the Pioneers reached the finals for the third time in three trips to Wisconsin. Marietta (42-11) gets a day off and will face whoever survives Monday’s two elimination games. Chapman (33-12) plays at 3:30 p.m. on Monday against the winner of the noon game between Montclair State University and Wheaton College. The title game is set for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and whoever survives Monday’s games will need to beat Marietta twice to win the title in this double-elimination format.
Marietta’s Ryan Belanger started the game with a bang by pounding the game’s first pitch from Billy Sulentor over the left field fence for a 1-0 Pioneers lead.
The Panthers came right back in the bottom of the first against Marietta starter Ryan Dennick (pictured right). Two walks, a fielder’s choice and a hit batsman loaded the bases and Patrick Ohail delivered a two-run double to put Chapman up 2-1. “We were squirming a little bit,” Brewer said of that first inning. “It was like, oh, no, here we go again.” Dennick settled down to strike out Steven Fraser and got Kyle Redding to ground out to end the inning.
Over the next five innings, Dennick, who improved to 8-2 on the season, allowed only two runners to get as far as second base. Chapman held that 2-1 lead until the fourth when Jarrod Klausman (pictured above left), who finished the day 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, started the rally with a single. A single and hit batsman loaded the bases, and a ground out scored Klausman to tie the game at 2-2. Two batters later, No. 9 hitter Ryan Eschbaugh delivered a two-run, two-out single to give the Pioneers a 4-2 lead.
“They’re a really good team. They swing the bats very well,” Chapman head coach Tom Tereschuk said of Marietta. “There were a few plays we didn’t make. They just got away from us.”
Chapman first baseman, Patrick Ohail picture above left, Marietta third baseman, Justin Steranka picture below left.
Marietta added a run in the fifth when Josh Beebe doubled and later scored on a single by Justin Steranka, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in.
The Pioneers really started to put the game away in the seventh. A throwing error and single put a pair of runners aboard with no outs, and Steranka followed with a run-scoring single to chase Sulentor. Later, with one out, Tony Piconke executed a squeeze bunt to score another run, and Lee Guerrera followed with a run-scoring single to put Marietta up 8-2.
Chapman battled back in the bottom half of the inning to score twice. After Jarrod Sammet and Tyler Dean singled, John Alexander grounded to third with one out, but the throw to first was wild and both runners scored to trim Marietta’s lead to 8-4.
The Panthers had another rally going in the eighth. Dennick left the game after giving up a lead-off walk and was replaced by Scott Dunn. After a hit batsman, sacrifice bunt and walk loaded the bases with one out, Dunn struck out Brian Brubaker and got Dean to ground out to end the threat.
Marietta scored two more in the top of the ninth, with Pinconke delivering a run-scoring triple and Guerrera following that with a RBI single, to grab a 10-4 lead.
Chapman left the bases loaded again in the bottom of the ninth, marking the third time in the game the Panthers left the bases full. “I think that’s just baseball,” Tereschuk said of his team’s lack of timely hitting. “We will get that changed tomorrow.”
Marietta is going for its fourth national championship after capturing titles in 1981, 1983 and 1986.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Marietta 10 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Ryan Belanger 2b.......... 5 1 1 1 0 0 4 3 Josh Beebe lf............. 5 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 Jarrod Klausman 1b........ 5 2 4 0 0 0 7 0 Justin Steranka 3b........ 5 0 3 2 0 0 1 2 Tom Doty dh............... 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Joe Lithe dh.............. 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Devin Ward pr............. 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tony Piconke rf........... 4 2 1 3 0 0 5 0 Lee Guerrera c............ 4 0 2 2 1 0 6 0 Chris Hendricks cf........ 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 Ryan Eschbaugh ss......... 3 0 2 2 1 0 1 3 Ryan Dennick p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Scott Dunn p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 39 10 15 10 2 4 27 9 Chapman 4 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Jarrod Sammet rf.......... 3 1 2 0 2 0 2 0 Brian Brubaker lf......... 4 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 Tyler Dean 3b............. 5 2 1 0 0 1 2 2 John Alexander dh......... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Patrick Ohail 1b.......... 4 0 2 2 0 0 11 0 Steve Fraser cf........... 5 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 Matt Pearson c............ 2 0 0 0 3 1 4 1 Kyle Redding 2b........... 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 Kurt Yacko ss............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 Billy Sulentor p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Gabe Bonfanti p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Eddie Cook p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 34 4 7 2 6 6 27 13 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Marietta 100 310 302 - 10 15 1 Chapman 200 000 200 - 4 7 2 ---------------------------------------------- E - Steranka; T Dean; Redding. DP - Chapman 1. LOB - Marietta 7; Chapman 14. 2B - Beebe; Brubaker; Ohail. 3B - Piconke. HR - Belanger. SB - Eschbaugh. CS - Eschbaugh. SH - Piconke; Hendricks; Yacko. Marietta IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Ryan Dennick........ 7.0 6 4 2 5 3 28 34 Scott Dunn.......... 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 6 11 Chapman IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Billy Sulentor...... 6.0 10 8 4 1 3 28 31 Gabe Bonfanti....... 2.2 5 2 2 1 0 10 12 Eddie Cook.......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 Win - Dennick 8-2. Loss - Sulentor 5-5. Save - None. HBP - by Dennick (Alexander); by Sulentor (Doty); by S Dunn (Redding); by S Dunn (Ohail); by S Dunn (Redding). Umpires - Home:Carmen Perotti 1st:Steve Reinhardt 2nd:Mike Walsh 3rd:Eric Thorton Start: 8:45pm Time: 3:02 Attendance: 2016 Sulentor faced 3 batters in the 7th. Dennick faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Marietta 100 310 302 - 10 15 1 Chapman 200 000 200 - 4 7 2 ---------------------------------------------- Marietta inning 1 Belanger homered down the lf line, RBI. Beebe grounded out to ss. Klausman lined out to 2b. Steranka flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 1 Sammet walked. Brubaker walked; Sammet advanced to second. T Dean reached on a fielder's choice; Brubaker advanced to second; Sammet out at third p to 3b. Alexander hit by pitch; T Dean advanced to second; Brubaker advanced to third. Ohail doubled to left center, 2 RBI; Alexander advanced to third; T Dean scored; Brubaker scored. Fraser struck out swinging. Pearson walked. Redding grounded out to ss. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB. Marietta inning 2 Doty struck out swinging. Piconke grounded out to ss. Guerrera grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 2 Yacko flied out to rf. Sammet flied out to rf. Brubaker doubled to center field. T Dean struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Marietta inning 3 Hendricks struck out swinging. Eschbaugh singled down the lf line. Belanger flied out to lf. Eschbaugh stole second. Beebe struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 3 Alexander fouled out to lf. Ohail grounded out to 2b. Fraser struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Marietta inning 4 Klausman singled to center field. Steranka singled to center field, advanced to second on the throw; Klausman advanced to third. Doty hit by pitch. Piconke reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Doty advanced to second; Steranka out at third 3b unassisted; Klausman scored. Guerrera reached on a fielder's choice; Piconke advanced to second on an error by 2b; Doty advanced to third. Hendricks popped up to 1b. Eschbaugh singled to center field, advanced to second on the throw, 2 RBI; Guerrera advanced to third; Piconke scored, unearned; Doty scored, unearned. Belanger grounded out to 2b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB. Chapman inning 4 Pearson walked. Redding reached on a fielder's choice; Pearson out at second 3b to ss. Yacko popped up to 2b. Sammet singled to left field; Redding advanced to second. Brubaker flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Marietta inning 5 Beebe doubled to left center. Klausman singled to center field; Beebe advanced to third. Steranka singled through the left side, RBI; Klausman advanced to second; Beebe scored. Doty popped up to ss. Piconke lined into double play p to 1b; Steranka out on the play. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 5 T Dean grounded out to 2b. Alexander lined out to 2b. Ohail singled to left field. Fraser reached on a fielder's choice; Ohail out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Marietta inning 6 Guerrera walked. Hendricks out at first 3b to 2b, SAC, bunt; Guerrera advanced to second. Eschbaugh grounded out to 3b. Belanger flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 6 Pearson popped up to 2b. Redding flied out to rf. Yacko grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Marietta inning 7 Beebe reached on an error by 3b. Klausman singled to center field; Beebe advanced to second. Steranka singled to left field, RBI; Klausman advanced to second; Beebe scored, unearned. Bonfanti to p for Sulentor. Litke to dh for Doty. Litke reached on a fielder's choice; Steranka out at second p to ss; Klausman advanced to third. Piconke grounded out to p, SAC, bunt, RBI; Litke advanced to second; Klausman scored. Guerrera singled up the middle, RBI; Litke scored, unearned. Hendricks grounded out to p. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 7 Sammet singled up the middle. Brubaker flied out to cf. T Dean singled through the right side; Sammet advanced to second. Alexander reached on a throwing error by 3b, advanced to second; T Dean scored, unearned; Sammet scored, unearned. Ohail flied out to cf. Fraser flied out to rf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Marietta inning 8 Eschbaugh walked. Eschbaugh out at first c to 1b, caught stealing. Belanger flied out to rf. Beebe grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Chapman inning 8 Pearson walked. S Dunn to p for Dennick. Redding hit by pitch; Pearson advanced to second. Yacko grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Redding advanced to second; Pearson advanced to third. Sammet walked. Brubaker struck out looking. T Dean grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB. Marietta inning 9 Klausman singled to center field. Steranka flied out to cf. Litke singled to left field, advanced to second on the throw; Klausman advanced to second, out at third lf to 3b. D Ward pinch ran for Litke. Piconke tripled to left center, RBI; D Ward scored. Guerrera singled to left field, RBI; Piconke scored. E Cook to p for Bonfanti. Hendricks struck out swinging. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Chapman inning 9 Alexander struck out swinging. Ohail hit by pitch. Fraser singled to center field; Ohail advanced to second. Pearson struck out swinging. Redding hit by pitch; Fraser advanced to second; Ohail advanced to third. Yacko grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Updated May 2006