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| Emory was able to strand St.
Thomas baserunners all afternoon. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com |
By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- St. Thomas stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first six innings and Emory reached freshman reliever Bill Ferderer for a single run in the sixth and three runs to open the floodgates in the seventh as the Eagles remained alive in the 2014 postseason, eliminating the Tommies 10-7.
The No. 22 Eagles (38-12) will now face No. 3 UW-Whitewater on Tuesday. Emory will have to beat the Warhawks twice to win the 2014 national championship. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.
Ferderer, who came on in relief of starter Caleb Fernholz in the fourth, had retired seven consecutive batters before Wes Peacock hit a one-out infield single. He moved to second on an infield grounder before Brett Lake dumped a single into center to bring him around.
Ferderer (1-1) avoided further damage by getting Daniel Iturrey on a comebacker. But he was unable to avoid trouble in the seventh. Jared Kahn and Jared Welch each smacked balls past third baseman Jack Hogan, the latter a double into the left-field corner that brought Kahn around to make it 6-4. Ferderer was unable to handle a bunt attempt by Philip Maldari, putting runners on the corners and chasing the freshman from the game.
Jacob Nelson replaced Ferderer and gave up three singles and a double, as well as having the second and third errors of the inning committed behind him. Brandon Hannon smacked a two-run double into the left field corner to score two runs and the Eagles ended up with a five-run seventh.
World Series Day 4 wrapup |
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Postgame news conferences |
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“We knew that we weren’t going to bunt our way to a victory today,” said Emory coach Mike Twardoski. “So we put some hit-and-runs on, we did some delayed steals today to try to get the add-on crooked numbers. So we didn’t play for one run today and I didn’t think we could. But we stole a couple bases that inning, we got a bunt single that inning, we got a walk and we got some key two-out innings and that’s how you score five runs.”
“That’s actually a huge reason for our success this year, is that 1-8 we’re going to put be able to put a good swing on the call,” said Jared Welch, who was 2-for-5 vs. St. Thomas and 2-for-4 vs. Southern Maine. “We don’t put up goose eggs often because there’s never a break in the lineup and that’s been the consistent success for this team.”
The offensive outburst overshadowed an impressive pitching performance by Ben Hinojosa. The senior, who missed all of last year with a torn ACL, battled through six-plus innings to give the Eagles their second gutty starting pitching performance of the day.
“My whole goal that last game was just to give our team a fighting chance,” said Hinojosa. “I knew our bats were going to come alive eventually and they didn’t prove me wrong.”
Hinojosa had a shaky start. Tommies leadoff hitter Ben Podobinski greeted him with a comebacker, a ball he dropped three times and eventually had to eat. Although Hinojosa got the next two batters on easy fly balls, Tim Kuzniar singled into right field and J.D. Dorgan brought Podobinski in with a single to center, moving to second when the throw went through to third. Kelvin Stroik followed with just his second hit of the Series, a ball dumped into right that scored both Kuzniar and Dorgan to make the lead 3-0 on three unearned runs.
“Throughout my career it’s always been a battle, I never make it easy on myself,” Hinojosa said. “My goal was to get to the seventh or eighth inning, and just make one pitch at a time. That’s what it came down to.”
Emory answered in the top of the second, as Welch opened with a shot to the gap that got past Kelvin Stroik and to the wall in right field for a triple. Maldari brought him home with a single for his fifth RBI of the day. After a fielder’s choice, Fernholz walked two of the next three hitters to load the bases and Brett Lake beat out a slow roller to second to score the Eagles’ second run.
Ben Podobinski got his 200th career hit with one out in the second and came around to score on Jack Hogan’s single to up the St. Thomas lead to 4-2.
Fernholz lasted into the fourth inning, the longest any starter has gone against Emory in the series. But he was greeted in the fourth by a double by Wes Peacock and was relieved by freshman Bill Ferderer.
Brandon Hannon hit a dribbler in front of the mound that Ferderer gave way to third baseman Hogan on. Hannon beat the throw to first. Brett Lake followed with a sacrifice fly into the right field corner, scoring Peacock, and Hannon moved to third on a passed ball, then scored on Daniel Iturrey’s infield grounder, tying the game.
The Tommies (39-9) wasted a prime opportunity in the bottom of the fifth. J.D. Dorgan led off the inning with a walk and stole second before moving to third base on an infield grounder. But Brady Johnson struck out and Nick Degen grounded to second to end the threat.
“It’s hard to say,” said St. Thomas coach Chris Olean. “It’s just one of those things where you just trust the hitter to do his job there and hopefully you have a more prolonged inning instead of just giving up an out.
The Eagles will play for the title for the first time since 2007, when they faced Kean, which was undefeated in the World Series, and lost in the first game. Like UW-Whitewater this year, Kean had Monday off in Appleton.
“There’s no strategy tomorrow,” said Twardoski, who was also head coach in 2007. “We’re going to get some sleep tonight, we’re going to come back, get a little huddle, talk to each other about how much it’s worth. That’s the key for me as a coach is to make it worthwhile to grind. We’re just going to grind out each inning and whatever happens happens.”