Dan Haugh's ninth inning sacrifice hit allowed Sean Ryan to move to third and eventually score the go ahead run. d3photography.com photo by Larry Radloff More photos from this game

By Dave Radcliffe for D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- In a pitchers' duel between Wheaton’s Frank Holbrook and Cortland State’s Aaron Schuldt, it was Wheaton (Mass.) who put together a big ninth inning to earn a 6-1 win and advance in the D-III World Series on Sunday, May 27.

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Holbrook retired 11 straight batters between the fourth and seventh innings and struck out eight while only allowing six hits in his  eight innings of work. Schuldt also had a solid run, retiring eight in a row while receiving some help from his defense to work out of some tight situations. He would last 8.1 innings and allowed seven hits on the game before being chased.

“It’s pretty high up there,” Holbrook said when ranking his performance. “As far as throwing well, I was just doing what’s made me successful all year. Throwing strikes, getting ahead, mixing pitches, letting the defense work; that’s all you can really worry about.”

Holbrook and Schuldt each came in with impressive numbers, with Holbrook compiling a perfect 9-0 record and 1.21 ERA on the season while Schuldt went 8-1 to go along with a 1.43 ERA. It was no surprise that the game would come down to which team could capitalize on the few chances it would receive.

“You have two choices right now; you can call home and say you’ll be home in a few days or you can decide to compete and play baseball,” Red Dragons’ coach Joe Brown said. “We’re very capable of doing that. We certainly have enough pitching to stay around for a while, but we have to do a much better job offensively in scoring runs.”

Early on, it was the Lyons who made some noise, but a spectacular diving stab by Red Dragons’ shortstop John Adornetto to start a double play kept Wheaton to just one run in the third inning. The run was scored when Kevin Foley just beat a throw home on a fielder’s choice, a call that was disputed by Cortland State.

The very next inning, Wheaton had runners on second and third with just one man out. It was then that manager Eric Podbelski decided to put the squeeze play on with Dan Gusovsky at the plate. Gusovsky whiffed on the bunt, leaving teammate Sean Ryan hung out to dry between third and home.

Cortland State’s lone opportunity early came in the bottom of the first when Michael LaTempa plated Adornetto on an RBI single to right. The Red Dragons failed to advance a runner past second base for the remainder of the game.

The Lyons finally cashed in on an opportunity in the top of the ninth. With runners on the corners and one out after a double by Ryan and an intentional walk, Gusovsky had a chance to redeem himself. Gusovsky hit a ground ball to short and Matt June failed to keep his foot on the base for the force out.

Lyons’ third baseman Dan Haugh had a crucial sacrifice bunt to advance the eventual winning run to third with just one man out.

“Any player in our lineup can bunt,” Haugh said. “We practice it day in and day out and that’s what wins baseball games. If you just move a guy along, the next guy does his job, I feel like we all do that in our lineup. It’s just how we play baseball and how we win.”

The 2-1 lead was extended when Kevin Foley singled to bring home Apolinar De la Cruz. After that, the Lyons poured it on, scoring three more runs on a Justin Connor RBI and a 2-run single from Hal Landers.

Schuldt was nearly the one on the winning side of the scoreboard, but he said he failed to execute his pitches in the ninth despite feeling good heading into the inning.

“We leaned on [Schuldt] a little too much,” Red Dragons’ coach Joe Brown said. “I asked him to try and get out of that ninth inning for us. He’s done it for two years. We’re okay. The question now is mentally; how you can handle it mentally.”

Wheaton will take on the winner of St. Thomas and defending champion Marietta and Cortland State will face Whitworth at 10 a.m. on Monday, the loser heading home.

“It’s just a game,” Schuldt said. “People tell you to forget that when you get here, but it’s one loss. It takes two to get us out and we’re not done yet.”

The Lyons will be one of two teams without a loss heading into play Monday, and Haugh said he has been waiting for a national championship his entire life.

“One of the reasons I went to Wheaton was to have this opportunity and now I’m here as a senior,” Haugh said. “It’s a chance of a lifetime. We have a great team to do it and if we keep playing our type of baseball, we have a good chance.”