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| LaGrange hung on for a 6-5 win over 14th-ranked N.C. Wesleyan in the first game of the USA South Tournament championship series Sunday at Bauer Field. The Panthers are one win from their fourth straight tournament title. The best-of-three series continues Monday at 12 p.m. followed by the if necessary game at 3 p.m. LaGrange athletics photo |
Sophomore Nicholas Ortega allowed one run over seven innings and No. 3 Elizabethtown College cruised to the Landmark Conference Championship with a 10-1 victory over No. 2 Catholic Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Blue Jays move to 16-9 on the season, extending their winning streak to seven games. The Cardinals finish the year with a 16-11 record. Senior JT Thompson led the way for Etown, going 3-5 with a home run, three RBI, and a run scored. Classmate Arley Shepherd was 2-3 with a double and two runs scored while freshman Justin Wetzel finished the afternoon 3-3 with a double, three RBI, and a run scored. Junior James Vito (2) and senior Andrew Fisher (1) rounded out the RBI for Elizabethtown. Elizabethtown will play Scranton, a 11-0-10 winner over Susquehanna. Senior Anthony Lambroia delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth and Scranton (18-8) captured its second walk-off win in as many days and advanced to the Landmark Conference Championship Series.
Concordia (Wisc.) inched closer to a title with an 8-0 victory over MSOE to advance to the NACC Tournament Finals. CUW improves to 25-15 on the season with the victory and one step closer to the first conference tournament title since 2004. Junior Ryan Green secured the victory for the Falcons on the mound with only four hits allowed in nine innings. Green saw 34 batters, sending 73 strikes out of his 113 pitches. The Falcon's opponent will be top seeded Aurora. The Spartans swept through their pod, defeating Benedictine 11-5 to secure the South NACC crown.
- Photos: Concordia-Moorhead vs. St. Olaf | St. Olaf vs. Concordia-Moorhead | UW-Oshkosh vs. UW-Whitewater
Misericordia University split a doubleheader with Stevens in the MAC Freedom Championships series, Sunday afternoon at Tambur Field. The Cougars dropped the opener, 15-5, but rallied to take the nightcap, 8-1. In game one, the Ducks bats were hot and the Misericordia gloves were not as Stevens took the lead in the thirtd and kept adding on for the series opening win. Leading 4-1 in game two, the Cougars put the game away with four runs in the seventh. Misericordia will travel to Stevens for the championship series finale, Monday at 3:00.
For the first time since 2012, University of Lynchburg baseball will play for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship as the No. 2-seeded Hornets defeated the No. 6-seeded Bridgewater College Eagles 7-5 in game three of the semifinal series Sunday afternoon on Fox Field. In the bottom of the eighth, with the game tied at 5-5, PJ Alvanos came through with the biggest hit of his season as the junior sent a double to the right field corner to plate Avery Neaves and Gavin Collins giving Lynchburg a 7-5 lead. The two-run advantage was plenty for reliever Grayson Thurman as the senior from Lynch Station shut down the Bridgewater offense. Thurman shut out the Eagles over the final six frames and allowed only three hits and punched out 12 en route to his fourth win and Lynchburg's 32nd win of the year.
Marietta College, ranked No. 7 in the national poll, completed a dominating regular season with a four-game sweep of second place Mount Union. The Pioneers completed the series with a pair of wins Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park. The Etta Express scored three runs in the bottom of the eleventh inning to win game one, 6-5. Marietta finished off the Purple Raiders with a convincing 11-1 mercy rule victory in seven innings in game two. Marietta will be the number one seed in next week's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with an overall record of 32-4, 30-3 in OAC games. Mount Union finished 27-11 on the season and 25-11 in the OAC earning the No. 2 seed. The Pioneers were the class of the OAC winning each of the 10 weekend series during the regular season, including all nine OAC series.
Baldwin Wallace University swept an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader with Muskingum University to close the regular season on Mose Morehead Field. BW (23-15-1, 22-12-1 OAC) won the first game by a final score of 9-8. The Yellow Jackets took the second game by a final score of 13-11. In game one, BW scored nine runs on 10 hits as it plated one run in the third, one in the fifth, three in the sixth and four in the eighth. Muskingum (7-23-1, 7-22-1) scored eight runs on 12 hits as it pushed one run across the plate in the third, three in the fourth and four in the sixth. In game two, BW scored 13 runs on 17 hits as it plated two runs in the first, one in the third, fourth in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the seventh, one in the eighth and one in the ninth. The Fighting Muskies scored 11 runs on 19 hits as they pushed two runs across the plate in the second, three in the fifth, two in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth and one in the ninth.
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| The early-morning start had no effect on Simpson College as it ripped off 24 hits and scored 16 runs to sweep a doubleheader with Central to close out the regular season on Sunday. In the opener, the Storm (17-21, 14-18 A-R-C) earned a 6-0 victory by holding the Dutch (13-25, 10-22 A-R-C) to only two hits. The finale ended in a 10-2 triumph to help clinch the sixth seed in this year's ARC Tournament. Simpson athletics photo |
The Case Western Reserve University battled back from a 13-6 loss in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon to force a split with a 7-2 victory in the second game, behind a complete-game win from senior pitcher Matt Levine. Saturday's game also marked 'Senior Day' at Nobby's Ballpark, as the Spartans recognized the six senior players who are scheduled to graduate later this month.
Minnesota Morris closed out the 2021 season on a high note on Sunday, sweeping a UMAC doubleheader from Northland College by scores of 16-3 and 11-6. The Cougars close out the 2021 season with an overall record of 7-23 (5-11 UMAC). A complete game from Brian Vanyo and the combination of 13 hits against Northland pitching and five Lumber Jack errors allowed Minnesota Morris to breeze to a win in the opening game of the afternoon. Vanyo (3-5) went 7.0 innings, giving up only five hits and two earned runs while striking out six. After going ahead, 2-0, Minnesota Morris gave up a six-run second inning to Northland, but shut down the Lumber Jacks after that and fought all the way back with an electric ninth-inning comeback to get the win in game two. Nathen Carlin (2-5) came on in relief early and went the rest of the way, ending with 7.1 innings of shutout work while striking out eight.
No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater capped the 2021 regular season Sunday afternoon with a 7-6 victory in 13 innings at UW-Oshkosh in a non-conference game. The Warhawks (34-5 overall), who clinched a share of the WIAC regular season championship on Saturday with two wins against UW-Eau Claire, will start the postseason Friday at 10 a.m. with a game against the highest remaining seed following Wednesday's play-in games. Catcher Ryan Norton posted the go-ahead hit with two outs in the top of the 13th inning Sunday, plating first baseman Donovan Brandl with a single to right field. Pitcher Ben Muscatello earned his first win of the year by tossing the final three innings, pitching around a leadoff base hit in the bottom of the 13th to cap the contest.
Beloit College claimed the Midwest Conference North Division title Sunday in a sweep of the University of Chicago on the road. The Buccaneers needed one win Sunday but grabbed two to capture their first divisional title since 2016. The 7-4 win in the opener secured the title with the Bucs capping the regular season on an 11-6 victory in the nightcap. As the winner of the north division title, the Bucs advance to the MWC Championship and will host the winner of the south division, which has yet to be claimed, Saturday, May 22 in a best-of-three series.
Arguably the wackiest season in recent Otterbein history likely ended with one of the weirdest games Sunday afternoon at Fishbaugh Field, as the Cardinals settled for a split against visiting John Carroll. with so much on the line. Otterbein, having lost 10 games this spring by two runs or less, entered the weekend needing to beat John Carroll all four times to overtake the sixth (and final) spot in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. The Cards racked up three W's, winning 6-4, 13-11, 11-1 this weekend, before the Blue Streaks survived a marathon fourth showdown to culminate the wild series with a 12-8 win. As a result, Otterbein currently sits seventh in the league standings as seeding measures are being finalized through this unique CoVID season. The bracket will be officially locked in by Tuesday at noon as teams get situated. Ohio Northern recently canceled its weekend series with Capital due to medical protocol issues, and will make a decision about playing in the OAC Tournament based on outcomes of further testing. The Cardinals have won pieces of four-straight OAC titles, but will now need some help in order to have a chance at competing for a fifth. The key fourth game this season featured just about everything, beginning with the JCU starting pitcher exiting in the first inning after issuing three walks and hitting another two batters. Otterbein eventually led 4-1, scoring twice in the first and then another pair in a third inning. Things started getting twisted in the fourth, where the Blue Streaks scored five runs and ultimately never trailed again.