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| The Penn State-Berks team gets one more meeting at the mound after being eliminated from the Harwich Regional on Friday. Penn State-Berks athletics photo |
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| Nick Roth had not thrown a complete game this season before Friday's 1-hitter. Photo by Dave Hilbert, d3photography.com |
Marietta went two-and-out for the second time in three seasons, Westfield State lost its second one-run game in two days, while Bethany Lutheran's first trip to the regionals ended in a quick exit after the Vikings were one out away from a surprising win in Day 1.
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Wabash touched up Marietta starter Scott Oberhelman and reliver Dalton Wiggins for four runs in the fifth inning, and that was all the Little Giants needed as they eliminated the Pioneers from the Mideast Regional with a 4-2 victory. Cody Cochran scattered five hits over seven and two-thirds innings, leaving with the bases loaded in the eighth. Zach Moffett allowed a single and hit a batter to bring in two runs but got a strikeout to end the inning, then worked a quick ninth for his ninth save.
Wabash did all of its damage in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sean Roginski led off with a double to left field on a routine fly ball that Pioneer outfielder Zach Ward never saw off the bat. The Little Giants would get RBI doubles from Matthew Annee and Eric Chavez en route to a four-run rally.
"This group of seniors have been great leaders on the field, in the weight room and in the classroom," Marietta coach Brian Brewer said. "Coach Schaly always said 'you only go as far as your seniors take you' and these seniors took us farther than a year ago. They are great men and that's a credit to their parents."
Since winning the 2012 national title, Marietta has won just four postseason games in six seasons, no more than one in any regional round.
Concordia-Chicago pushed across three runs in the top of the ninth and Mike Formella closed the door as the Cougars moved to 2-0, eliminating Bethel by a 10-7 score. Formella, who entered with the game tied 6-6, picked up the win in relief for the second consecutive day at the Midwest Regional, throwing two and two-thirds scoreless innings en route to improving to 5-1. Leadoff hitter Jose Mercado led the way for CUC (35-12), as he went 5-for-6 and drove in three runs, two of them on a double in the ninth inning to provide insurance runs.
Westfield State was bounced on Friday after its second one-run loss in as many games at the New York Regional by Baldwin Wallace. Danny Cody threw eight strong innings for the Yellow Jackets, allowing two runs on eight hits to improve to 7-3. Nate Barnes, who entered the game with a 4.83 ERA, gave up just two earned runs in seven innings for Westfield State (24-18-1), but allowed single runs in the first, fifth and sixth and was tagged with the loss, falling to 3-1.
St. Joseph's (L.I.) scored single runs in each of the first two innings on Friday and that was all the Golden Eagles needed in a 2-1 win vs. Amherst at the New York Regional. Anthony Raucci led off the game with a triple and Paul Britt brought him home with a sacrifice for the 1-0 lead. The Mammoths (24-14) answered when Max Steinhorn reached on an error, stole second and came in on a single by Ariel Kenney, but SJLI came back with the go-ahead run in the top of the second. Michael Ferrufino doubled to left-center and went to third on a wild pitch, then was awarded home on an obstruction call at third base. Joseph Murphy went the distance for St. Joseph's (27-17), allowing just five hits.
Dubuque rapped out 17 hits and rode senior right-hander Doug Van Dyke for a 152-pitch complete game in an 8-3 win vs. Bethany Lutheran. Ninth hitter Tyler Imrich went 3-for-4 with two RBI and six other Spartans had two hits apiece as Dubuque (25-16) remained alive in a battle of two teams making their first appearances in the Division III NCAA Tournament. Bethany Lutheran, which was one out away from a dramatic win in the Midwest Regional opener vs. Concordia-Chicago on Thursday, broke the game open on Imrich's bases-loaded double in the fifth. Van Dyke gave up 11 hits but kept the Spartans from having to use their bullpen.
Virginia Wesleyan pushed across two runs in the top of the eighth and held on against a Castleton ninth-inning rally to defeat the Spartans 4-3 and remain alive in the Mid-Atlantic Regional. With runners at second and third and one out, Zack Clark lifted a sacrifice fly to score Randy Neisz to give the Marlins (29-15) a 3-2 lead. Brady Fallon followed with an RBI single to bring a key insurance run home. In the bottom of the ninth, Matt Braman reached on an infield single and stole second. Pat Mumford followed with a single and Braman came in to score on a throwing error to cut the lead to one. But Glen Pizzanello got two fly outs to end the game and pick up his second save, keeping the Marlins in the field.
With their season on the line Franklin ensured at least one more game in their historic season, picking up an 8-6 win over Thomas More in the first elimination game of the Central Regional. Sophomore Nick Wright belted a pair of home runs, the second coming in the bottom of the seventh to put Franklin in front for good. Ryan Bixler and Jarrod Smith also went deep for the Grizzlies, with Smith recording three hits and reaching base all four times he stepped to the plate against Saints pitching.
Arcadia exploded for 10 runs off two pitchers in the third inning and the Knights rolled past Catholic 13-2 in the Mid-Atlantic's other elimination game. Bryan Gillen scored twice in the inning, capping the scoring with a two-run homer as 13 batters came to the plate. On the opposite side, Joel Bartoni threw a complete-game six-hitter for the win for Arcadia.
Colin Barrett came within one out of a complete game, going eight and two-thirds innings before Zach English came on to get the final out of the game, stranding runners on second and third as LaGrange defeated Alvernia 2-1 to remain alive in the South Regional. English got Franco Esposito to ground out to second, picking up his fourth save of the season and helping Barrett improve to 8-4. The Panthers improved to 29-17. Nick Roth threw a complete-game one-hitter and Rick Spiers hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to help Randolph-Macon put Denison away, 6-1, eliminating the Big Red from the South Regional as well, leaving four teams remaining in the tournament. It's the second complete game in two days at the regional for the Yellow Jackets.
- Photo Galleries: Randolph-Macon vs Denison | La Grange vs Alvernia
Ithaca staved off elimination as the Bombers posted a 5-4 walk-off victory in the 12th inning against No. 2 seed Otterbein. Ithaca will face elimination again on Saturday when they face Shenandoah. Junior Webb Little drove in the game-winning run, which was sophomore Andrew Wollner, with an infield single to shortstop in the bottom of the 12th. The Otterbein shortstop slipped on the play as he needed to readjust due to a wet playing surface, which allowed Little to beat out the throw with a head first slide.
Bob Hamel threw seven innings, allowing one run, unearned, and he and three relivers combined for a six-hitter as Western New England defeated Penn State-Berks 4-1 to remain alive at the New England Regional. Because of Thursday's weather, this was the first game of the tournament actually played at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Massachusetts. The Golden Eagles struck first, scoring two unearned runs with two outs in the top of the first. They added single runs in the fourth and ninth. Jared Rosenblatt went 3-for-4 on the day as Western New England improved to 32-14. Tyler Comport walked nine for Penn State-Berks, taking his first loss of the season in eight decisions.
Mitchell put up a six-spot in the second inning and the Mariners got a huge performance out of the bullpen as Roland Thivierge went seven and a third innings of shutout relief in a 9-3 win vs. Suffolk in the New England Regional's second elimination game. A freshman, Thivierge had made just eight previous appearances, all of them out of the bullpen.
Redlands was eliminated from the West Regional and top-seeded Chapman remained alive as the Panthers won 6-5. Chapman (35-12) scored twice in the first, third and fifth, the latter two runs giving it the lead it would not relinquish. Christian Cosby got the win with five innings of shutout relief, picked up his eighth win against three defeats. Aaron Wong went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Alex Tsuruda scored three times and drove in a pair from the top of the order.