Steven Dooley earned MVP with a gutsy performance in the championship game. Webster photo by Dave Prescott

The Webster University baseball team won its fourth straight St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, defeating Spalding University (KY), 3-1, on May 11 at Glik Park in Highland, IL.  The Gorloks advance to the NCAA III Championships for their fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last nine years.  Steven Dooley (SR, Oran HS, MO) threw a nine-innning complete game for the win, and earned MVP honors for the Tournament.

In 2012 the Gorloks won the NCAA III Millington Regional (TN) and gained a berth in the World Series where they finished fifth.  Webster, needing just one win in the SLIAC championship bracket for a trip back, lost 4-3 to the Golden Eagles to start the day.  The Gorloks had defeated Spalding, 5-1, in a second round game the previous day.

For the championship final, Steven Dooley (SR, Oran HS, MO), started the game on two days rest, having started a 14-5 win for the Gorloks against Fontbonne University in the tournament opener.  Dooley literally sailed through the contest that lasted only one hour and 49 minutes.

Dooley allowed three hits and a run in the first inning and a third, then retired the next 13 straight batters.  Having thrown 109 pitches in the game, and with closer Jason Gray (JR, North Central CC, MO) warming up in the pen, Dooley took the mound in the ninth and set the Golden Eagles down 1-2-3 for his team-leading ninth win.

With Webser and Spalding tied at 1-1 in the third, the Gorloks received a little help from the Golden Eagles to take the lead.  Taylor Stoulp (JR, St. Mary's HS, MO) singled and was at first with two outs when Mike Rainbolt (SR, Kankakee CC, IL) lifted a wind-blown pop fly between the mound and home plate.  The ball was dropped by the Spalding pitcher charging in off the mound, putting runners at first and second.  Alex Kazmierski (SR, Triton College, IL) followed with a double to score Stoulp and Rainbolt and put Webster up, 3-1.

The Gorloks, with the aid of Dooley's stellar performance, held off the Golden Eagles for the Championship.  Rainbolt wound up two for four with an RBI and a run scored.  Stoulp was two for four, with a run scored and Kazmierski was one for four, with two RBIs.

In the game one, 4-3 loss, after a Cody Stevenson (SR, Centralia HS, IL) tripled to lead off the first, Webster took a 1-0 advantage when Taylor Stoulp (JR, St. Mary's HS, MO) singled him in with one out.  The Golden Eagles tied it up, 1-1, in the third, but Webster came back with two in the fifth to grab a 3-1 lead.  Lasky singled to lead off, and Stoulp doubled him home.  With two out, Brett Buchanan (JR, Willowbrook HS, IL) singled in Stoulp.

Webster starter Cody Hafeli (SR, Kankakee CC, IL) was cruising along, having allowed a single earned run in the third.  But the Golden Eagles had two reach with one out in the sixth, on a hit batter and a single.  A two-out double made it 3-2 and Dylan Dean Smith (JR, Edwards County HS, IL) relieved Hafeli.  Smith walked the first batter he faced and then allowed a single to tie the game at 3-3.  Spalding touched Smith for an unearned run in the seventh and the Gorloks were unable to muster any more runs as they fell, 4-3.  Stoulp was three for four, with two RBIs, a walk, and a run scored.  Stevenson was three for five, with a triple and a run scored.

Named to the SLIAC All-Tournament Team for Webster were:  Isaac Behme (SO, Harrisburg HS, iL), the winner vs Spalding in the 5-1 game two win, Stevenson, who was 7-18, with 5 runs, 2 triples, 2 RBIs, and a stolen base, and Stoulp, who was 10-16, with 5 runs, 4 RBIs, a double, and 2 stolen bases.

Dooley, the MVP, was 2-0, with 13 hits, no walks, two earned runs, and 14 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings pitched.

The Gorloks had captured the SLIAC regular season title, their seventh straight, with a 20-1 record and are 32-9 overall on the season.  The team will now wait to see what Regional they land in, and who its first round opponent will be.  The NCAA will release the tournament field and brackets on Sunday, May 12, at 9:00 p.m.