May 28, 2021

Promise and heartbreak on tap for today

Justin Weinberg hit a two-run home run as St. Mary's (Minn.) built a 5-0 lead in a regional game with Aurora. St. Mary's defeated Aurora 15-13.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com


We had pitching duels, slugfests and a little rain but Day 2 dawned with the prospects of one more victory for all. Some teams will find their seasons ending today, while others will be one step closer to a World Series trip.

On Thursday, the day opened with pitchers taking control, keeping the day on schedule, but the afternoon turned stormy. On the fields where there was sunshine, the hits kept coming and any hope of staying on schedule evaporated. Out in Minnesota, two regionals did not have a chance to show what their teams had as Mother Nature rained on their parade.

Well that busted my bracket. Cortland shut out Eastern Connecticut State as the top seed managed only one run in two losses in the Auburn Regional. Zack Durant started the game for Cortland and in the fourth gave up a single and double. That was enough for Cortland head coach Joe Brown. In came Matt Funk who stranded the two runners and finished the game, allowing three base runners in his 5.2 innings of work. Ben Rhodes's single in the eighth accounted for two runs and that was all the Red Dragons needed to advance in the elimination round. Husson scored the games first three runs but Johnson and Wales scored eight of the last ten as the Wildcats defeated the Eagles 8-5 to stay alive in the Hartford Regional.

UW-Whitewater finished its game from Thursday, starting Friday with an 18-run lead. The Warhawks finished it off with a 20-1 victory as they took advantage of the Norse's miscues. UWW were gifted 12 walks and Luther committed five errors as 13 of the 20 runs scored were unearned.

Washington & Jefferson and Marymount were tied heading to the ninth where the Presidents scored one run and held the Saints scoreless to move on in the elimination round. Tyler Horvat's drive bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. A sacrifice moved him to third and Adam Moore singled him home for the winning tally.

In Marietta, Rochester and Penn State-Behrend played between raindrops as the Nittany Lions extended their season with an 11-1 win over Rochester. Juston Jones was 4-for-5 with four RBIs to lead PS Behrend's 15 hit attack. Thomas Zbezinsk earned his eighth win of the season, pitching a complete game three-hitter. He struck out 11.

Better late than never. The two Minnesota regionals now have a winner. In the Collegeville Regional it was St. Thomas (Minn.) finding its hitting stroke for a 8-4 win over Scranton. A short drive south in St. Paul, Johns Hopkins defeated top seeded Trinity (Texas) 11-1 in a dominating wire-to-wire victory

Salve Regina knocked off Southern Maine in the Hartford Regonal, 5-4. Dominic Perachi kept the powerful Husky lineup quiet, allowing just one hit through the first six innings. USM solved the puzzle and scored four but Andrew Roman came in  relief and preserved the 5-4 margin with a three inning save. With this loss, this is the third top seed to go down in defeat Salisbry was looking like they would be the fourth top seed to lose. The battled back to tie the game after being down four runs early to tie the game. LaGrange scored one in the eighth and looked like they were on their way to day three but Salisbury walked it off, sending LaGrange home with their second loss in the tournament.

Photo Galleries: Aurora vs. St. Mary's (Minn.) | Northwestern (Minn.) vs. Misericordia | UW-Whitewater vs. Texas Lutheran | Texas Lutheran vs. Penn State-Harrisburg | Johns Hopkins vs. Trinity (Texas) |  Luther vs. Salem

It was cats and dogs in the afternoon with a purr-fect win for the Lions of Harrisburg. Texas Lutheran had runners on the corners, down two in the ninth, but could not find the clutch hit and Penn State Harrisburg continued their run with a 6-4 win over the Bulldogs. Transylvania eliminated Illinois College with an 11-6 win and moves on to play another day. Luther solved their defensive woes and Calvin Brinda pitched a complete game four-hitter as Luther staved off elimination with a 8-2 win over Salem State. 

Wheaton (Mass.) got behind early and entering the eighth inning, they were on the losing end of a 5-1 score with a George Mulcahey RBI being Wheaton's only tally. Afrter two walks, Mulcahey singled to load the bases and all runners ended up scoring to bring the Lyons within a run. When Mulcahey came to bat in the ninth, the sacks were full. A single to right center brought in the tying run but the runner on second rounded third and evaded the tag at the plate and sudently, Wheaton was the sole unbeaten team in the Hartford Regional.

Washington brought out their ace for their second game and Millikin was no match for Ryan Loutos as the Bears won 5-2. The only mistake the righthander made was a pitch to Brent Beals that left the yard for Millikin's only two runs of the games. Loutos finished with a complete game five-hitter, striking out 11 and walking none. Following the Washington-Millikin game was the final game of the day, Denison versus Webster. The Big Red took an early 1-0 lead when Dylan Hunter opened the game with a leadoff home run and through three innings Denison was maintaining that slim lead. Denison's lead would grow in the middle innings, giving Denison a 8-1 win over Webster and a 2-0 regional record.

It was a long wait for the St. Paul host, Northwestern (Minn.). They and Misericordia were the last teams to start playing due to a rain storm that washed out the first day and a schedule that got pushed with lengthy games. Their offense was clicking from the start and they scored two runs in three of the first four innings. Misericordia scratched out single runs in the first, second and eight innings and despite bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth, that was all they could muster in a 6-3 loss.

Texas Lutheran offense was dominate but the Bulldogs failed to get the clutch hit to put the game away. Despite leaving a small army on the bases (16 left on base), Texas Lutheran defeated Adrain 4-0 to avoid elimination. TLU starter, Joe Burch, pitched a complete game shutout, scattering 5 hits, striking out 7 without allowing a walk on 96 pitches. Rowan came back from a 0-2 hole as Nick Schooley ignited the offense late with a 3-for-5, four RBI day. The Profs controlled a potent St. John Fisher offense, winning 6-3. The Cardinals were eliminated after just two games from the Marietta Regional.

In a game where east met west, Pacific was a 4-2 winner over York (Pa.). The Spartans led 2-0 early but the Boxers scored four unanswered runs before York put up a run late to make it close. The stings came early and late as the Lynchburg Hornets continued their cinderella run in the High Point Regional. Brandon Pond was effective in holding down and experienced Birmingham Southern offense in their 6-3 win. Grayson Thurman came in for the three inning save.

Rain remained a threat for many regional sites. The Auburn Regional only got one game, thanks to an early start, with the rest moved to Saturday. At the Marietta Regional, there is still hope for playing a second game tonight but game three for today is officially game one on Saturday.

Regional Websites: Auburn | Collegeville | Decatur | Hartford | High Point | Marietta | St. Paul | Whitewater

Check out the D3baseball.com Regional Scoreboard for in game scores results and links. As the action continues, you can take a break from what you are doing and get a full picture where each teams stands at the scoreboard.

We will be updating this story with game summaries as we highlight the action with links to games stories so check back often to keep up with all the action.