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| Scott Peschiani just missed as Nick Walker's drive gets beyond his glove for a home run to lead off the second. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com |
Postgame news conferences
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By Jim Dixon
D3baseball.com
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – It took an extra day but Ramapo and Frostburg State finally played the ninth game of the NCAA D-III World Series. Nick Walker's home run started the scoring and Bennett Schiltz was effective off the mound in the Bobcats' 5-2 win over Ramapo.
Nick Walker led off the second inning with a towering shot that fell just out of the reach of Ramapo center fielder Scott Peschiani to put Frostburg on the board.
"I was looking to get a ball over the plate and put a good swing on it," Walker said. "I thought he caught it at first, then I saw the umpire give the home run signal and was just lucky he did not catch it."
I was underneath it and a gust of wind caught it and it changed directions on me," Peschiani said. "That is how it lies, a couple inches there and it would have been a 0-0 game."
Baserunning mistakes prevented Frostburg from adding to the score early. In the second with runners on first and second and one out, Ricky Brady took too big of a lead and was picked off second. In the third it was Walker who overran third base and was tagged out to complete a nontraditional double play.
"It was a mistake on my part, with Walker on the bases, getting over-aggressive and ending up costing us an opportunity to tack one on," Frostburg State head coach Guy Robertson said.
Frostburg state added three in the sixth as they brought eight men to the plate. Ricky Castro opened the inning with a double to left center. Singles by Zach Weiss and Walker loaded the bases. Brady grounded out to first for the first run and three batters later, JT Tipton's single up the middle made it 4-0 Bobcats and ended the day for Ramapo starter Brian Cottrell.
"To get three, kinda gives you a little breathing room," Robertson said.
"Not getting the run the inning before and giving them all that momentum certainly hurt us and they took advantage of it that," Ramapo head coach Rich Martin said "It was a hugh inning for them and was the bottom line of the game as it turned out."
Bennett Schiltz was the recipient of several fortunate bounces as he kept the Roadrunners off the scoreboard. In the third inning, a ball bounced off the first baseman Brady's glove back to Schiltz who flipped it back to the Brady for the out. The fifth inning ended with a 4-3 putout that the second baseman dribbled towards Brady who scrambled for the ball, nipping the batter for the out.
"It was a lot of fun," Schiltz said. "It was a ground ball to first base and I went to the base. I saw it bounce off and thought we can do something really cool and flipped it over to him and got the out."
Frostburg added an unearned run in the ninth inning to complete the scoring for the Bobcats.
Ramapo made a comeback attempt in the ninth. Ryan Rinsky singled with one out and was lifted for a pinch runner, Bobby Shannon. Brandon Berger added to his tournament leading RBI total with a two-run shot over the left field fence. Rob DeAngelis singled but a double play would put an end to the Roadrunners' comeback hopes.
"I was just looking to go out with a bang and finish my career on a good note," Brandon Berger said about hitting his home run.
"I felt like we were rolling and coming back," Peschiani said. "We had our two hitter and Joe V [Venturino] was always there for us and Werr has the most two-out RBIs. I was feeling fantastic about the situation and it was sad about the double play."
Walker led all hitters with three hits and two runs scored. Brady had two hits for the Bobcats with DeAngelis and Peschiani with two hits for Ramapo. Ramapo's Berger and Frostburg's Tipton each had two RBI.
Schiltz (10-1) earned the win, scattering seven hits and five walks in eight and a third innings. He allowed two runs, both earned and struck out five. Nick Huff made his second appearance of the series to get the final two outs for his sixth save of the season. Cottrell took the loss allowing four runs, all earned on nine hits and two walks. He struck out four. Kyle Doerr finished the game for the Roadrunners, giving up one run, unearned on a hit. He struck out out four.
"I was trying to throw strikes," said Schiltz. "I was attacking with all four pitches and was able to throw all four pitches for strikes and keep them guessing overall. A couple times they guessed right but most often they did not."
"Frostburg played an excellent game," Martin said. "[Schiltz] was outstanding changing speeds and did a great job.
"He proved why he is one of the best pitchers in the country," Robertson aid. "Another gutty performance and he has been awesome all year. He embodies what we are as a team."
Frostburg will meet Cortland in the third game of the day in the Pool A championship game. Frostburg will need to defeat Cortland today and in an "if necessary" game on Tuesday to advance to the final best-of-three series.
"Survive and advance is the name of the game here today and to be able to stay and play the team that put you in the losers bracket is a great opportunity," Robertson said. "We do not want to go home yet, we want to scratch and claw until they kick us out of here."