| Tyler Surnbrock dives in to give Chapman a 5-3 lead in the opener of the D-III Baseball Championship. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com |
By Jim Dixon
D3sports.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Chapman used nine hits and eight free passes in walks and hit batters to defeat Kean 9-4 as the former champions led off the NCAA D-III Baseball Championship. In the Panther's win, their ace pitcher, Brian Rauh, came out of the game with an injury in the fourth.
"Winning the first one is always big," said Chapman head coach Tom Tereschuk. "We have a good rivalry with Kean and our guys are always ready to come out and play."
"You can't give them base runners and expect the score to be low," said Kean head coach Neil Loviero. "We had 3-4 of these games and pretty sure we lost them all."
In the first inning Chapman took advantage Kean's Mike Russo wildness to score the game's first run. Tyler Hadzinski singled with two outs and then stole second and third. After two walks, Russo balked the runners up a base, scoring Hadzinski. Kean got back to even in a hurry. With two outs in the inning, Lee Cavico sent a Rauh change-up over the left field fence.
"I was looking for an off-speed pitch," said Cavico. "I got a change up, it hung up there and I took advantage of it."
In the second inning Chapman regained the lead. Troy Newman led off and was hit by a pitch. Steve Greenberg sacrificed Newman to second and he scored on Mark Saatzar single. The Cougars executed the double steal in the third to tied the game. Chris Carrano took off for second and was safe as Nick Ramagli broke for the plate and beat the tag.
The fourth for Kean started with a Rauh leaving the field with an injury after facing his second batter of the inning. With Ben Levitte coming into the game, Kean took their first lead. Eddie Jennings doubled to rightfield and scored on a Dylan Laguna single. Kean almost added another run in the fifth. With Carrano on first with a single, Cavico doubled to right field. When the ball skipped under the fence, Carrano was held on third. The Panthers were able to get out of the ining, stranding Carrono on third.
Chapman took the lead for good in the sixth. James Parr walked and Charlie Piro followed him on base after being hit by a pitch. Tyler Surnbrock's single tied the game and Steve Greenberg's single up the middle scored Piro and Surnbrock for a 6-3 Panther lead.
Chapman and Kean traded runs in the seventh. Hadzinski singled and after Adam Kordich's sacrifice, scored on Piro's single to center. Kean's run came on a Cavico sacrifice fly. Tyler Smarslok singled and was moved over to third with a walk and a wild pitch before Cavico stepped to the plate.
Chapman finished the scoring with three in the eighth. Greenberg reached on a fielding error and ended up at second base. Adam Velez doubled in Greenberg and moved to third on Saatzar's single. Both scored on Hadzinski's third hit of the night, a double down the left field line.
Kevin Osaki pitched two hitless innings in the eighth and ninth to close the door and give Chapman its sixth straight win.
Ben Levitt earned the win with 3.2 innings of relief. The loss went to Russo.
Hadzinski led all batters with a 3-for-5 day. Saatzer also had a multiple hit day with two. Cavico and Carrano had two hits apiece for the Cougars.
Chapman will play the winner of the Marietta-Salisbury game. Kean moves into the loser bracket and will player the loser of the Marietta-Salisbury game in the first game on Saturday.