May 13, 2022

UMAC tournament turned upside down

More news about: Northwestern (Minn.) | UW-Superior
 
Faced once again with potential season-ending elimination, Texas-Dallas rallied with three late runs Friday afternoon to force the American Southwest Conference championship series to a deciding Game 3 with a 8-6 win over East Texas Baptist at Wood Field. The Comets (33-14) and Tigers (33-12) will meet for the ASC Championship in a 1 pm game Saturday afternoon. UTD is the defending ASC champs and ETBU is looking for its first league title ever.
Texas-Dallas athletics photo

 

UW-Superior scored runs in six separate innings and got a complete-game effort from senior right-hander Bryce Flanagan for a 9-3 victory over second-seeded Crown in the winner's bracket game in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournament at Reynolds Field on Friday. With the win, the Yellowjackets (19-19) advance to the championship series Saturday at 1 p.m., needing to win one of a possible two games to claim the title as the No. 4-seed. UWS will face the Polars, who eliminated top-seed Northwestern, 7-1, in Friday's second game. Superior erased an early one-run deficit in the first inning with single runs in the second, third and fourth frames, adding two in the fifth, one in the sixth and three more in the eighth for the victory. Flanagan (3-2) went the distance for his second complete game of the season, scattering six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts and four walks, throwing 125 pitches. UWS benefitted from Crown's three pitchers -- Tyler Vancise, Liam Jones and Jacob Crowley -- issuing 12 walks and hitting three batters on the day.

In the opening game of the 2022 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship, the Christopher Newport Captains (25-10) outlasted #3-seed Mary Washington (17-22) in a slugfest, 13-12. The two teams combined for 11 extra-base hits including four home runs with two apiece. The first career home run for junior catcher Drew Caroline proved to be the difference in the back-and-forth battle that featured four lead changes. Caroline had a career-day at the plate for the Captains to lead the offense, reaching base in three of his plate appearances while going 2-for-4 with 3 runs, an RBI and a walk. Ninth-ranked and top-seeded Salisbury University moved one step closer to a repeat Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference title, dispatching the third-seeded Mary Washington Eagles, 11-1, at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium. The Sea Gulls' win sets up a best-of-three championship series against second-seeded Christopher Newport. The first game is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.

Susquehanna University trailed 3-0 after two innings of play, but scored the next nine runs, to hold on and win game one of the Landmark Conference tournament against the host Royals of the University of Scranton 10-7. Trailing 3-1 in the fourth inning, the River Hawks jumped in front. In the fifth, Scranton's defense fell apart, as Susquehanna extended their lead to 9-3 in the inning, off the back of five runs and four errors from the Royals. Scranton again would cut into the deficit in the eighth inning. However, that was as close as Scranton got. Adam Stuck came on, in relief of Sears in the ninth, and struck out the side, stranding two Royals on base, and sealing the win for Susquehanna.

MSOE has been firing on all cylinders so far in the 2022 NACC tournament but faced a big test on Friday night when they took on another team who hadn't lost either in fourth seeded St. Norbert. The Raiders bided their time but had no issues moving past the Green Knights  10-0 in a mercy rule victory that puts them on the doorstep of history. It was the battle of the unbeaten tournament teams in the nightcap at Kapco Park as third seeded MSOE (26-16, 18-6 NACC) and fourth seeded St. Norbert (19-18, 14-10 NACC) went to battle with a lot on the line. The winner would get an automatic berth into the championship series, needing to win only once in two possible chances. The loser would have to win two games tomorrow to even get a chance at taking home the NACC crown in a winner takes all game on Sunday. Both teams struggled to light up the scoreboard for the first four innings, but several Green Knight blunders allowed the Raiders to break through in the fifth. Three of the Red & White's five runs in the inning were unearned and MSOE kept the bats going in the sixth with another pair of tallies. Collin Truitt came off the bench in style this evening. The sophomore was a perfect 3-for-3 after pinch hitting in the fifth and hit the game winning two RBI double to cap off the Raiders night in the seventh after Blake Hall had made it 8-0 with a two base hit to right center one batter earlier. Tyler Gronert didn't need any major award hardware to assert his dominance over SNC. The senior went the distance, not allowing a single run to score while scattering three hits in the 10-0 thrashing. With the victory the Raiders have now set a new program record for wins in a season at 26.

Junior Ryan Qualey put together a signature performance Friday afternoon, delivering a complete game with five strikeouts, limiting second-seeded Rhode Island College to one unearned run as the fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth secured an upset win, 5-1, to advance to the Little East Conference semifinal. The Corsairs (17-22-1) have eliminated the Anchormen (29-10-1) from the LEC Tournament. Junior DJ Perron went 2-for-4 and smashed his second home run of the postseason and eighth of the season. Classmate Andrew Bryant continued his torrid playoff run, going 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored, while freshman Devyn Vezina drove in a run as well. Qualey shut down the Anchormen, working 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, sixth, and ninth to improve his record to 5-1 on the year. In the late game, UMD defeated UMass-Boston 10-6 to stay alive in the LEC tournament. Eastern Connecticut State gave up their first runs of the tournament and had to overcame a 5-1 deficit after 4.5 innings to beat UMass Boston and advance in the winner's bracket.

Fresh off a sweep of #3 Randolph-Macon, Roanoke started the ODAC Final Weekend tournament with a game against top ranked Lynchburg. The Hornets got a two-run home run in the opening innings to take an early lead. The Maroons answered with two to tie the game and then added 10 runs over a three-inning stretch to seize control and take a 12-2 advantage into the bottom of the seventh. A season high 24 hits would propel the Maroons to a 15-3 win over the #7 team in the nation. The Maroons will play Shenandoah, a 9-3 winner over Bridgewater (Va.).

Sean Blandino made the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the eighth with a dart from right field to get the Panther baserunner out at home. It gave California Lutheran University baseball the momentum in the top of the ninth and a double by Austin Carrillo made Blandino the go-ahead run.Will Watson pitched the eighth and the ninth, recording the win, as the No. 4 Kingsmen took down top-seeded Chapman 4-3 on Friday afternoon to start the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament. The tournament is double-elimination. The losing teams of Chapman and Pomona-Pitzer will play the first game tomorrow at 10 a.m. Cal Lutheran and La Verne continue in the winner's bracket with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

After two lopsided games yesterday, day two of the 2022 Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament started with an old-fashioned pitcher's duel as top-seeded Marietta College defeated No. 3 seed Baldwin Wallace University, 3-2, Friday morning at Pioneer Park. "I think it was another really well-played game offensively," Marietta head coach Brian Brewer said. "We might have left a few runs out there, mainly based on our approach, but really we played well in all three phases of the game." Marietta seniors Isaac Danford and Sam Mathews combined to limit Baldwin Wallace to two runs on six hits. The Yellow Jackets entered the day averaging over 10 runs per game. "I felt pretty good today. I was just trying to fill the zone and get some swings early and be really efficient," Danford said. "It's good that we have Sam to come in in the back half and shut the door. He's always lights out."

Behind the arm of freshman right-hander Max Sutter and timely hitting down the stretch, top-seeded Bethel University landed itself in the MIAC Championship game Saturday following a 7-2 victory over Gustavus Adolphus. The Royals only need one win tomorrow to produce another pile. They are looking to become the first team since 2014 to win both the MIAC regular season and playoff championships. BU will have a rematch with either Saint John's or Gustavus Adolphus at 3 p.m. An if necessary game will be played right after should BU lose the first one. BU got another complete game effort from its starter where Sutter struck out four, walked one and gave up six hits. Noah Wenberg was the lone Royal with a multi-RBI day.

No. 17 UW-Stevens Point (33-7) erases a first inning deficit for an 11-5 win over UW-Oshkosh (24-18) to advance to the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) title game. The Pointers will face UWO again at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Senior Payton Nelson hit a home run and drove in three in the win. He leapfrogged into third in school history with those three RBI with 149 in his career. He also scored twice in the game. Jakob Boos had three hits and also scored twice. Logan Matson and Anthony Tomczak had two hits apiece. Matson hit a home run, drove in two and scored twice. Tomczak also homered with three RBI and a run scored. UWO earned their spot in the championship round with a 11-4 win, eliminating UW-La Crosse.

Augustana (33-11) won a tightly-contested 2-1 game over North Park this afternoon. Augie used a pair of middle inning runs to eclipse NPU and reach the CCIW Tournament championship game. North Park started the scoring in the top of the first inning but after two scoreless innings, Augustana struck back to tie the game. An inning later, the Vikings took what would become the final lead of the game. With one out and nobody aboard, Jacob Barker crushed a solo shot home run to left field. Barker's bomb proved to be the go-ahead run as neither team managed any more offensive production. Bryce Luckey earned the victory on the mound after 5.1 innings pitched. Luckey struck out four NPU hitters and walked just one. Jacob Reusch picked up his second save of the season after 2.2 innings of work. North Central delivered a second run-ruled victory since losing their opening contest. The Cardinals defeated Millikin 13-3 in seven innings. In the final game of the day, North Central (Ill.) squeaked out a win, defeating North Park 10-9.

Keystone will once again play a deciding-game No. 3 after splitting Friday's doubleheader with Wilson, 2-11 and 6-3, in a best-of-three series for the Colonial States Athletic Conference Championships at Christy Mathewson Field. Second-seeded Wilson powered its way to an opening-game win before the Giants rebounded to even the series and force a rubber match Saturday starting at noon. The Giants are looking for their 17th straight conference title for what would be their 13th consecutive CSAC Championship. The last time Keystone went to a game No. 3 in the conference championship series was 2018 against Gwynedd Mercy. Wilson, whose inaugural season was in 2019, is chasing its first conference trophy.

Tyler Horvat and Nate Rush combined to drive in four runs and Henry Litman struck out 10 in seven innings as the top-ranked Washington & Jefferson earned a 5-4 victory over third-ranked Grove City in the winner's bracket final Friday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park. Grove City seemed poised to tie the score after a leadoff triple by Lucca Baccari opened the bottom of the eighth inning. However, W&J recorded the first out on a fly out to shallow center field. The Presidents brought on closer Dante DiMatteo to attempt to record the final two outs. Peter Kalinski and Jacob LaDuca combined to pick off Baccari, who wandered too far off of third base, in the game's most pivotal play. "I would love to take credit for the play (by LaDuca) but it was just an instinctive play by our shortstop," said W&J head coach Jeff Mountain. "He is a son of a coach and made a great play." The win improves W&J to 34-8 overall and advances to the PAC Championship round for a 10th straight tournament, a streak that began in 2012. W&J will face an opponent to be determined Saturday at 1 p.m.

LaGrange rode the pitching of Baley Coleman and Jacob Brown to take Game 1 of the USA South Tournament championship series from N.C. Wesleyan 4-1 on Friday night at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. The win moved the fourth-ranked Panthers (36-6) within one win of their fifth straight USA South Tournament championship. Game 2 is 2 p.m. Saturday. The if necessary third game would follow at 5:30 p.m. Coleman (9-1) outdueled N.C. Wesleyan's Derrick Carter (8-3), the USA South Pitcher of the Year. Coleman pitched a season-high eight innings, scattering seven hits, the one run, walked one and struck out eight. He pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the third before the Bishops (28-16) touched him for a run in the sixth. Carter pitched his fifth complete game of the season. In eight innings of work, he gave up the four runs, three of those earned. Carter walked five, struck out six, and threw 145 pitches.

In the Liberty League tournament maybe they should just play the final inning. Three games of the five played so far, have been decided in the ninth inning with Rochester walking off twice and being walked off once. Ithaca College will play for a Liberty League title tomorrow morning after the Bombers secured an 8-7 walk-off victory over the University of Rochester in the 10th inning at Freeman Field on Friday afternoon. With the win, Ithaca is now 29-12 and will face the Rochester on Saturday. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Collin Feeney led off with an infield single to short. Louis Fabbo followed with a walk and Buzz Shirley was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Rochester made its seventh pitching change of the game, and on the fifth pitch of the next at bat, Nicholas Cutaia smoked a hard grounder to third base, which kicked away and allowed Feeney to race home for the game-winning run. In the final game of the day, it was Rochester with the walkoff win as they eliminated Clarkson 7-6 to stay alive in the conference tournament.

After a 10-5 win over fourth-seeded DePauw University to open the tournament on Thursday, top-seeded and No. 19-ranked Denison University improved to 2-0 at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with an 11-3 win over the No. 3 seed, the College of Wooster, on Friday. The Big Red will now advance to the NCAC Tournament Championship game on Sunday, and will have to be beaten twice in a row for someone else to raise the trophy. In addition to getting a great effort on the mound from starting pitcher Taylor Perrett (8-1), the Big Red combined that with clutch two-out hitting all game long as Denison belted out 10 of its 14 hits and 10 of its 11 runs with two outs. The Big Red also benefited from two home runs on the day by Josh Bohn, and took advantage of seven combined walks by the Wooster pitching staff, five of which came with two outs and including a stretch three straight walks with two outs in the sixth. Wooster worked their way through the elimination rounds to emerge as Denison's opponent in the championshi round.

Nico Santoro hit a pair of doubles to break the single season hit record and propel Lebanon Valley College to a thrilling 2-1 victory over York College of Pennsylvania in the opening game of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Championships series on Friday afternoon at McGill Field. The second-seeded and defending champions Spartans (23-18) got on the board first in the fifth inning with a solo home run down the left field line by Andrew Santarpia. The top-seeded Dutchmen (29-13) struck right back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at one. LVC then took the lead with a run in the sixth. Kyle Kingsbury did the rest shutting down the York offense with a complete game gem. In the MAC Freedom, the game between Arcadia and Misericordia was suspended with the Knights winning 10-7 and will resume on Saturday befoire the second game in the series.

Lawrence University player Colin Wieska has a new nickname, "The Prophet". A few days ago, the senior catcher was quoted in the media as saying that he felt his team wasn't out of a game until the 27th out was made. How right he was because Illinois College only managed to get 26 outs in the Midwest Conference Tournament opener Friday at Whiting Field. Lawrence rallied for four runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 16-15 victory over the Blueboys. In a wild game that saw five lead changes, the teams combined for 30 hits against eight pitchers. Lawrence University pitcher Michael Duttlinger put the team on his back Friday afternoon at Whiting Field, and placed the Vikings firmly in the driver's seat at the Midwest Conference Tournament. Duttlinger tossed a complete game in Lawrence's 6-1 victory over the University of Chicago, and the Vikings are now in the tournament championship game on Saturday. Lawrence awaits the winner of Saturday morning's elimination game between Chicago (22-15) and Ripon College. Lawrence (25-11) needs one win Saturday to claim the title and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament while their opponent will have to beat the Vikings twice in the double-elimination format. Ripopn and Chicago, both went 1-1 on Fridy and will play each other to decided which team advances to the Championship game with Lawrence.

Colby traveled to Hamilton College today, May 13th, to play the first game of the double elimination portion of the NESCAC tournament. This is both the Mules and the Continentals first time in the conference tournament since it began in 2001. Colby was out some key players today due to illness. Brady O'Brien, Cabot Maher, and Marcus Forester were all absent. Despite these absences the Mules were able to come out on top over Hamilton, outlasting their opponent 6-4. Nicholas Thompson got the start and the win for Colby baseball, pitching six innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits. Jack Bohrer pitched an inning and two thirds and Julian Erro pitched the remaining inning and a third. Bohrer allowed the other run on two hits. The Mules allowed only five walks on the day.

Bridgewater State University advanced to the championship round of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament as the top-seeded Bears posted a 14-7 victory over #3 seed Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Friday afternoon at Alumni Park. The Bears (29-13) will play either Mass. Maritime or #5 seed Salem State University on Saturday afternoon at three o’clock in the championship round. The Buccaneers (24-16) will take on the Vikings in an elimination game on Saturday morning at 11. Junior righthander Matthew Seavey tossed seven strong innings and junior third baseman Joey Molis went 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, two runs and a career-high six RBI to lead the Bears to the victory.Seavey (7-2) allowed three runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts as he picked up his seventh win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.58. Salem State advanced to the loser’s bracket final as the fifth-seeded Vikings stunned #2 seed Westfield State in the semifinal round, 10-9 in ten innings as he two teams combined for 31 hits in the contest and also combined to strand 21 runners on base. The Vikings (23-18) will take on Mass. Maritime in an elimination game on Saturday morning.

Cortland scored three times in the top of the eighth to break an 8-8 tie and the second-seeded and nationally 12th-ranked Red Dragons defeated top-seeded and 11th-ranked Oswego, 11-8, in a winner's bracket game of the SUNYAC tournament. Cortland (32-10) will face third-seeded Brockport in the championship round Sunday at noon needing one win in two attempts versus the Golden Eagles to repeat as conference champion. Brockport stayed alive on Friday with wins over Plattsburgh, 12-3, and Oswego, 12-4, to eliminate those two teams. Andrew Michalski, who finished 4-for-5 with a walk and three runs scored, started Cortland's decisive rally with a leadoff single in the eighth. Scott Giordano, who ended the day 2-for-4 with two walks and two runs scored, followed with a single to put runners on first and second. James Varian bunted the runners to second and third for his third sac bunt of the game and Danny Coleman was intentionally walked to load the bases. Coleman finished the game 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBI and three runs.

Wartburg continued its American Rivers Conference Tournament run with a 7-3 win over number one seeded Buena Vista University. Both teams started the game with a hitless first inning before Buena Vista took a 1-0 lead in the bottom second. The Knights got a two-out single from Keaton Gray that led to back-to-back RBI doubles from Will Armstrong and Bryce Butler that gave Wartburg a 2-1 lead. Armstrong recorded another RBI after a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and then Max Goodhue homered in the seventh inning to add another two runs. The Orange & Black held BVU hitless over the two innings and led 5-1 after seven innings and pushed the lead to 7-1. The Beavers put up two more runs and could not close further.

Second-seeded Endicott knocked off first-seeded Salve Regina, 14-9, in Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament play on Friday evening at Reynolds Field. Endicott (35-7) will now host fifth-seeded Western New England in the CCC Championship round tomorrow. The Gulls enter tomorrow's CCC Championship Round undefeated (3-0), meaning the Golden Bears will need two wins on Saturday to claim the title. Leading 10-6 after five innings, the Gulls posted four important insurance runs in the sixth to help fend off Salve Regina. The Seahawks didn't go away quietly, however, which was the theme of the entire game, as the hosts scored three more times in the ninth before all was said and done. Chris Jenkins recorded the last two outs of the matchup (P4, 4-3) to lock up the victory and eliminate Salve Regina from the tournament.