| Linfield's Chris Haddeland
tossed a four-hit complete game in the opener of the West
Regional. Danny Kambel, LeTourneau Sports |
By Colton Westfall
for D3baseball.com
There is a pattern developing out West. All three games were decided by one run on a day that saw pitchers have their way with the offenses. There were a total of nine runs scored on the day. Linfield, Cal Lutheran, and UW-Stevens Point remain undefeated while LeTourneau, Illinois-Wesleyan, and Trinity are one loss from going home.
Game One: Linfield’s Chris Haddeland continued his season long dominance with a complete-game shutout over LeTourneau in the opening game of the West Region. Linfield won the pitcher’s duel 1-0. The Wildcat’s Kramer Lindell supplied the only run, in the fourth, when he hit a solo home run off of LeTourneau’s Cody Whitley.
Haddeland, a junior, struck out three while allowing just four singles and one walk in his seventh complete game of the year. Whitley was the tough-luck loser after going the distance for the Yellow Jackets. He scattered six hits over eight innings with the homerun being his only blemish.
In a game that took just 90 minutes, both teams flashed their leather. In the fourth, Linfield’s Corey VanDomelen made a leaping catch at shortstop to deny LeTourneau of their best scoring chance. The following inning, LeTourneau’s Ryan Bertram made an incredible leaping catch over the third base line fence, and into the bullpen, to end the inning.
Linfield’s Nick Fisher and Jo Carroll were the only players with multi-hit games as they both went 2-4 with a double.
With the win, Linfield will face Trinity, and LeTourneau will face Illinois-Wesleyan in a loser-out game.
| Danny Kambel, LeTourneau athletics |
Game Two: Cal Lutheran scored two runs late to defeat Illinois-Wesleyan, 2-1. Cal Lutheran’s Jake Petersen and Illinois-Wesleyan’s Jeff Johnson were locked in a pitcher’s dual through the first six innings. Both teams broke through with runs in the seventh inning. The Titan’s Adam Glogovsky roped a leadoff double and came around to score on a sac fly from Pat Mollo. Petersen was able to limit the damage though, and that would be the only run scored by the Titans all game.
A two out error in the bottom half of the seventh allowed Cal Lutheran to tie the score at 1-1. After the error, Spencer DuBois provided the clutch two out RBI when he laced a single into right field that allowed Gabe Gunter to score from second.
In the eighth, a leadoff walk followed by a single set the table for Ramsey Abushahla’s game winning hit. Moments after a failed squeeze attempt, Abushahla redeemed himself by lacing a double into the left field corner. Petersen, the winning pitcher, scored from second on the play and gave Cal Lutheran the lead for good. Aaron Roth entered in the ninth, and struck out two of the four batters he faced to earn the save.
With the win, Cal Lutheran faces UW-Stevens Point on day two. Illinois-Wesleyan will face LeTourneau in a win or go home matchup.
Game Three: Pitching ruled again as UW-Stevens Point held on to beat Trinity, 3-2. Cam Seidl went six strong innings to pick up his seventh win of the year. JP Feyereisen got his first save of the year after throwing three scoreless innings in relief.
Trinity took an early lead after shortstop Christian Muscarello shot a double into the gap. He then moved to third on an error and scored on a balk.
Both teams committed two errors in the game, but Trinity’s proved much more costly. UW-Stevens Point scored two unearned runs in the fifth inning to take the lead. A two-out grounder was misplayed at second base allowing a runner to score from third, and Casey Barnes followed it up with the team’s first hit of the game to score their second run.
Trinity answered back in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 2-2. Chris Bianchi hit a leadoff double and he eventually came around to score on a sac fly from Austin Singer. The teams traded zeros again in the sixth inning.
The knockout blow came in the seventh inning. The Pointer’s Bobby Gregorich led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, and moved to second on Taylor Carlson’s sacrifice bunt. Cody Hanke picked up his second RBI of the day by crushing a double to the right field fence. That proved to be the last run of the game, and it was all the Pointers needed.
Christian Muscarello had three hits on the day for Trinity, and Casey Barnes had two hits for UW-Stevens Point. Zack Speer took his second loss of the season after going 6.1 innings and giving up three runs (one earned).
UW-Stevens Point moves on to play Cal Lutheran in the winner’s bracket tomorrow night. Trinity faces the host, Linfield, in a must win game.