Teams making strides to playoff contention

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Vassar tied the program record for wins with their 4-2 win over Clarkson.
Vassar athletics photo

Vassar responded from yesterday's loss to Union with a 4-2 victory over Clarkson in an elimination game of the Liberty League Tournament. With the victory, Vassar College ties the all-time program record for wins in a season with 19. Brendan Garry drove in all three runs as Rochester defeated Union 3-0 to move into the finals of the Liberty League Championship. Union set up a rematch with a 8-1 win over Vassar.

Third-seeded Rose-Hulman rebounded from a 5-1 deficit with a seven-run rally over the final two innings and then withstood a furious bottom-of-the-ninth comeback attempt from the host Spartans to win an 8-7 cliffhanger. Rose-Hulman moves to the championship game on Saturday.  The Anderson Ravens scored eight runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie their game with Franklin and added two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning for a 13-12 win in 12 innings. Anderson will play Manchester for a spot in tomorrow's championship game with Rose-Hulman.

Lancaster Bible completed its NCCAA East Region Championship Series comeback as they defeated Cairn, 10-0 at Charger Field to claim their third NCCAA East Region crown in the past five years. After dropping game one to the Highlanders on Thursday, the Chargers outscored Cairn, 23-3 over the final two games en route to the series win. Lancaster Bible starter Nate Burns was the main event as he pitched a two-hitter to guide the Chargers to the win. Burns allowed just one walk and struck out five.

Penn State Behrend scored eight runs in the final three innings, including three in the bottom of the ninth, to stun Mt. Aloysius 9-8 in the Lions opening game of the AMCC Tournament. La Roche defeated Pitt-Greensburg 10-1 in game two to advance to the AMCC Tournament semifinals of the winners bracket. The Redhawks will play Penn State Behrend tomorrow.

Junior pinch hitter Joey DiSarno ripped an RBI single to right center field to score senior outfielder Joey Connell from second base to give No. 22 Moravian its school-record 32nd win of the season in a 3-2 walk off victory over No. 6 Rowan at Gillespie Field. With the win between the top two regionally ranked teams, Moravian advanced their case for an at-large bid to the NCAA Playoffs next week.

Eddie Reese got things started for the Scots' offense with a first inning two-run home run, his 10th home run this season.
Wooster athletics photo

Wooster scored in each of the first eight innings and received a strong start from Matt Felvey, as the Fighting Scots cruised into the championship round of the NCAC Tournament with a 16-5 triumph against Denison during the winners' bracket game at VA Memorial stadium. Denison will face DePauw. a 9-3 winner over Allegheny in an elimination game.

John Carroll got a late home run from Tyler Gentile and moved into the championship round with an 11-8 win over No. 23 Marietta, This is the Blue Streaks first appearance in the championship game since 1998, current head coach Marc Thibeault's senior year. Baldwin Wallace will join John Carroll in the championship game as the Yellow Jackets avenged a Thursday afternoon loss by defeating Marietta 6-1 in an elimination game. This will be the first time these two clubs have ever met in the Championship of the OAC Baseball Tournament.

Sophomore shortstop Matt Moser drove in five runs, including a pivotal three-run double in the fifth inning, as Tufts defeated Amherst, 9-5, in game one of the NESCAC Championship at Huskins Field. The Jumbos advance to the winner's bracket and will play against Wesleyan. The Cardinals executed a walk-off squeeze bunt for a 4-3 win against Bates in game two of the tournament played at Babson's Govoni Field. Amherst will face Bates in an elimination game.  

After going winless in the postseason prior to last season, Bethel collected its second postseason victory with an 11-8 win over St. Mary's (Minn.). The Royals used a five-run seventh inning to power past Saint Mary's University, who had just tied the game at 6-6 in the previous half inning, en route to an 11-8 win. With the decision Bethel will take on St. Thomas Saturday in the winner's bracket.

The Benedictine staved off elimination at the NACC Tournament by rallying to an 11-6 win. Benedictine trailed 5-1 but struck for sixth in the eighth and four more in the ninth to steal the victory. The Eagles were not as lucky in the evening, taking an 8-3 loss to Concordia (Wisc.) in the final game of the day.  Concordia (Wisc.) and Dominican will play to see who will take on the only remaining undefeated team in the series, Concordia-Chicago.

Top-seeded Southern Maine defeated sixth-seeded Rhode Island College, 10-0, then came back to defeat Mass Dartmouth, 3-2, on junior Jake Glauser's RBI single in the top of the ninth inning. Southern Maine will need to defeat Eastrn Connecticut State twice to win the conference championship. ECSU earned their spot in the championship with a 7-6 win over Mass Dartmouth.

Simpson's Michael Chia slides into third in their IIAC game with Wartburg. Simpson won the game 7-6.
Loras athletics photo

18th-ranked Buena Vista scored five times over the first two innings and that was more than enough for junior Scott Harris, as the Beavers went on to top the Dutch 7-2 and advance into Saturday's championship game of the IIIAC Tournament. The Beavers will play either Central or Loras.

Second-seeded Thomas More trailed 6-0 after four and half innings, but roared back to earn a 9-6 PAC tournament victory over top-seeded Washington & Jefferson. Thomas More moved one game away from its third PAC title as they will play for that championship. W&J drops into the elimination round.

Sul Ross State broke a 2-2 tie with an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning and held on to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor, 3-2, in their elimination game in the ASC tournament at Concordia's Tornado Field. In game two, Texas-Dallas stayed alive as they pushing across the winning run in walkoff fashion in a 2-1 elimination game victory over Howard Payne. The Comets eliiminated Sul Ross State 7-0 in the final elimination game of the day and will play Concordia (Texas) for a spot aginst LeTourneau, a 8-2 winner over the Tornados in the winners bracket finale.

The St. Scholastica rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth to tie it and then won it in the bottom of the 10th in game one with Bethany Lutheran.  In game three the Saints scored five runs between the first two innings and then hung on for a 6-4 victory over the Northwestern to advance to Saturday's championship game.

Illinois Wesleyan collected 17 hits in a 12-4 win over Augustana in the second day of the CCIW postseason tournament. The Titans will play next against North Central. The No. 4-seed Cardinals eliminated No. 1 seed Augustana by an 8-4 score and now would have to beat IWU twice Saturday to keep Illinois Wesleyan from securing the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III postseason tournament.

It was a tale of two games, at least offensively, for UW-Whitewater as they opened up play in the WIAC Championship.  Game one took 3.5 hours but the Warhawks pulled out a ten-inning win, 15-14, over UW-Stout.  UW-W struggled to score in the second game, falling 12-3 to UW-La Crosse.

The SUNYIT Wildcats advanced to the championship series of the NEAC Tournament after winning two games to open play Friday. The Wildcats, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, defeated top seed and host Gallaudet 1-0 in 11 innings to open play before closing the day with a 9-4 win over No. 3 seed Penn State Berks to jump right into the championships of the four-team, double-elimination tournament. They now await the results of Saturday’s contests involving the three remaining tournament teams, as the Bison and the No. 2 seed Keuka College Storm will play in an elimination game. with the winner then taking on Berks for a shot at Sunday’s title series.

Springfield was led by the bats of Keith Cotnoir (Westhampton, Mass.), Jared Hopkins (Cranston, R.I.) and Shane O'Leary (Kings Park, N.Y.) in the win. Cotnoir drove in three runs while Hopkins and O'Leary drove in two each. Frank Calabrese (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Steve Starr (Lebanon, Conn.) each tallied two hits.

Tyler Kelly (Absecon, N.J.) earned the win on the mound in his first collegiate start for the Pride. Kelly went five innings, allowing three hits and just one run while striking out four.

- See more at: http://www3.springfieldcollege.edu/homepage/athletics.nsf/Headline/8E97D8CBEBF3973785257CBD006DC43B#sthash.4cEkI602.6cvsdR44.dpuf