South Regional - Game 11 - May 20, 2006
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Rocky Mount, NC - The Battling Bishop baseball squad of North Carolina Wesleyan College is heading to the NCAA Division III World Series! The Bishops, who knocked off Rowan University by a 4-2 score in extra innings, will make their first appearance at the Series since their National Championship win in 1999.
Blake Rice threw his second complete game of the tournament and Luke Williford blasted his first two collegiate homeruns to spark Wesleyan to their first Regional Championship in six years. Rice and Williford were named Co-Most Valuable Players of the tournament.
The Profs, who forced a game two with a 2-0 win in the opener, found themselves down 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh after Williford connected on a solo shot in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Rowan skipper Juan Renero made a gutsy call and put on the squeeze with two strikes on batter Joe Fransechini. Fransechini executed the bunt perfectly to tie the game at 1-1, however, Rice then forced a 5-2-3 double play to end the inning and preserve the tie.
The Profs had a shot to put the game out of reach in the eighth, loading the bases with no outs. Rice again came through in the clutch with back-to-back strikeouts followed by a groundout to third that swung the momentum back in the favor of NC Wesleyan.
After a scoreless ninth, the game headed for extras. Not to be outdone by Rice's heroics, Williford blasted his second homerun of the game to give the Bishops a 2-1 advantage in the tenth. Chris Pecora followed with a single, and senior Rob Johnson, in his final at-bat at Bauer Field, connected on a two-run shot into the pine trees in left field that proved to be the game-winner.
Rice allowed one run in the ninth that allowed the Profs to send the go-ahead run to the plate with runners at first and second. It was Rice's day, however, as the junior hurler again forced a groundout to third that secured the 4-2 final and began the celebration for the home crowd.
Rice (10-2) tossed his 11th complete game of the season after going ten innings, allowing two runs, striking out six, and walking none. Dempsey (1-3) took the loss for Rowan.
Pecora, Johnson, and Williford all had two hits for the Bishops. Bruce Reibis and Bobby Fox each had three hits to pace the Profs.
North Carolina Wesleyan will now travel to Appleton, Wisconsin for the NCAA Division III World Series. The eight-team tournament will begin on May 26th with the National Championship game slated for Tuesday, May 30th. The Bishops will be going for their third National Championship, having won the Series in 1989 and 1999.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
NC Wesleyan 4 (31-17) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ PECORA, Chris rf......... 4 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 JOHNSON, Rob 3b.......... 5 1 2 2 0 0 3 1 1 SMITH, Matt cf........... 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 SNYDER, Ryan 2b.......... 4 0 1 0 1 0 3 5 0 WOOTEN, Mark 1b.......... 5 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 2 FLYTHE, Kenny dh......... 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 WILLIAMS, Ted c.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 0 WEST, Nathan ss.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 2 0 WILLIFORD, Luke lf....... 4 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 RICE, Blake p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 40 4 10 4 2 3 30 15 8 Rowan 2 (30-15) Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Frank Galeota ss......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 Jim Comprelli cf......... 5 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 2 Matt Enuco 3b............ 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 Tim Edmeads rf........... 5 1 2 0 0 1 5 0 1 Bruce Reibis dh.......... 4 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 Shawn Counard 1b......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 11 0 1 Bobby Fox c.............. 5 0 3 1 0 0 4 0 4 Tim Barnshaw pr......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian McLaughlin lf...... 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 Bobby Bullard ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Frank Hasenauer lf...... 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 Joe Franceschini 2b...... 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 Robert Rose p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Tyler Dempsey p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gary Winkler p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 41 2 14 2 0 6 30 11 12 Score by Innings R H E --------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan......... 000 010 000 3 - 4 10 1 Rowan............... 000 000 100 1 - 2 14 1 --------------------------------------------- E - SNYDER(11); Galeota(5). DP - NCWC 2; RU 1. LOB - NCWC 8; RU 12. 2B - PECORA(11). HR - JOHNSON(1); WILLIFORD 2(2). HBP - Galeota; Reibis. SH - Counard(2). SB - PECORA(37); JOHNSON(34); WEST(3). CS - Comprelli(3); Fox(1). NC Wesleyan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- RICE, Blake......... 10.0 14 2 2 0 6 41 44 Rowan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF ----------------------------------------------- Robert Rose......... 5.0 4 1 1 2 1 18 20 Tyler Dempsey....... 4.1 5 3 3 0 1 19 19 Gary Winkler........ 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 3 3 Win - RICE (10-2). Loss - Dempsey (1-3). Save - None. WP - RICE(4). HBP - by RICE (Reibis); by RICE (Galeota). Umpires - Start: 1:35 pm Time: 2:25 Attendance: 120
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E --------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan......... 000 010 000 3 - 4 10 1 Rowan............... 000 000 100 1 - 2 14 1 --------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan starters: 16/rf PECORA; 5/3b JOHNSON; 1/cf SMITH, M.; 11/2b SNYDER; 22/1b WOOTEN; 32/dh FLYTHE; 15/c WILLIAMS; 7/ss WEST; 27/lf WILLIFORD; 31/p RICE; Rowan starters: 3/ss Galeota; 7/cf Comprelli; 18/3b Enuco; 24/rf Edmeads; 11/dh Reibis; 10/1b Counard; 15/c Fox; 44/lf McLaughlin; 1/2b Franceschini; 5/p Rose; NC Wesleyan 1st - PECORA grounded out to ss. JOHNSON singled to right field. JOHNSON stole second. SMITH, M. grounded out to ss; JOHNSON advanced to third. SNYDER walked. WOOTEN flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Rowan 1st - Galeota grounded out to 2b. Comprelli singled to center field. Enuco struck out swinging; Comprelli out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. NC Wesleyan 2nd - FLYTHE singled to center field. WILLIAMS flied out to rf. WEST lined into double play 3b to 1b; FLYTHE out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Rowan 2nd - Edmeads struck out looking. Reibis hit by pitch. Reibis advanced to second on a wild pitch. Counard flied out to rf. Fox grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan 3rd - WILLIFORD flied out to lf. PECORA walked. JOHNSON grounded out to ss; PECORA advanced to second. SMITH, M. grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Rowan 3rd - McLaughlin singled to left field. Franceschini reached on a fielder's choice; McLaughlin out at second p to ss. Galeota flied out to lf. Comprelli popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan 4th - SNYDER grounded out to p. WOOTEN struck out looking. FLYTHE flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Rowan 4th - Enuco grounded out to 2b. Edmeads singled to right field. Reibis singled to left field; Edmeads advanced to second. Counard hit into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Reibis out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan 5th - WILLIAMS lined out to cf. WEST flied out to lf. WILLIFORD homered to left field, RBI. PECORA singled to left field. PECORA stole second. JOHNSON grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Rowan 5th - Fox singled to right field. Bullard pinch hit for McLaughlin. Bullard struck out swinging; Fox out at second c to ss, caught stealing. Franceschini popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. NC Wesleyan 6th - Hasenauer to lf for Bullard. Dempsey to p for Rose. SMITH, M. grounded out to 2b. SNYDER reached on an error by ss. WOOTEN flied out to rf. FLYTHE popped up to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Rowan 6th - Galeota reached on an error by 2b. Comprelli reached on a fielder's choice; Galeota out at second c to ss. Enuco grounded out to p; Comprelli advanced to second. Edmeads popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan 7th - WILLIAMS grounded out to ss. WEST singled to center field. WILLIFORD popped up to 1b, bunt. WEST stole second. PECORA struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Rowan 7th - Reibis singled to left field. Counard out at first c to 2b, SAC; Reibis advanced to second. Fox singled to shortstop. Hasenauer singled to right field; Fox advanced to second; Reibis advanced to third. Franceschini singled, bunt, RBI; Hasenauer advanced to second; Fox advanced to third; Reibis scored. Galeota hit into double play 3b to c to 1b; Fox out on the play. 1 run, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. NC Wesleyan 8th - JOHNSON grounded out to 3b. SMITH, M. flied out to cf. SNYDER flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Rowan 8th - Comprelli singled to left center. Enuco singled to left field; Comprelli advanced to second. Edmeads reached on a fielder's choice; Enuco advanced to second; Comprelli advanced to third. Reibis struck out swinging. Counard struck out swinging. Fox grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB. NC Wesleyan 9th - WOOTEN flied out to lf. FLYTHE flied out to rf. WILLIAMS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Rowan 9th - Hasenauer flied out to cf. Franceschini flied out to rf. Galeota hit by pitch. Comprelli reached on a fielder's choice; Galeota out at second 2b to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan 10th - WEST lined out to rf. WILLIFORD homered to left center, RBI. PECORA doubled to left field. JOHNSON homered to left field, 2 RBI; PECORA scored. SMITH, M. singled to center field. Winkler to p for Dempsey. SNYDER singled to left center; SMITH, M. advanced to third. WOOTEN struck out swinging. FLYTHE reached on a fielder's choice; SNYDER out at second 2b to ss. 3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Rowan 10th - Enuco lined out to 3b. Edmeads singled to left center. Reibis singled to right field; Edmeads advanced to second. Counard struck out swinging. Fox singled to left field, RBI; Reibis advanced to second; Edmeads scored. Barnshaw pinch ran for Fox. Hasenauer reached on a fielder's choice; Barnshaw advanced to second; Reibis out at third 3b unassisted. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated May 2006