May 20, 2022

It is like opening day again

Scott Giordano's walk-off shot touched off the Cortland celebration.
Cortland athletics photo by Darl Zehr Photography
 


We started with more than 350 teams in February and now we start all even. The 60 teams that started play were all 0-0 and are looking to get that key opening day win. Check out the D3baseball.com Regional Scoreboard for in-game scores results and links.

The upsets started early as Johnson and Wales defeated the Wheaton (Mass.) Lyons 6-3. Wheaton, the top seed in their bracket, lost its first game since April 15 to snap a 17-game win streak, which was the longest in the nation. First years Xavier Botelho and Trevor Juan each homered and combined to drive in three runs to lead the Wildcats. The fourth-seeded Wildcats won their second-ever game in the NCAA Tournament after an 8-5 victory over Husson in last year's Hartford Regional.

The Salisbury title defense started today and the Sea Gulls found their groove on the mound and at the plate, blasting by the William Paterson Pioneers, 10-1. Rowan and Arcadia were early winners with the Knights doubling up Husson 10-5 and the Profs teaching Mitchell a lesson in their 7-1 victory. Arcadia will face Oswego State who took care of Elizabethtown 8-2.  Endicott also had an easy time with the St. John Fisher Cardinals, defeating them 10-1 in the Friday final of the Cortland Regional.

Two breaks did not go Wooster's way in the top of the ninth inning and Bethel capitalized with a seven-run rally to top the Fighting Scots 12-7. Wooster carried a 7-5 lead into Friday's ninth inning and was in position to potentially end the game after issuing an intentional walk to Bethel left fielder Justin Winterfeldt that loaded the bases. Wooster senior right-hander Ben Gbur did his job to get a ground ball. However, junior second baseman Dean Brown had trouble gathering the ball in, thus preventing him from attempting to start a potential game-ending double play. Bethel pulled within 7-6 on right fielder Ty Kohen's RBI fielder's choice, then first baseman Keenan Hodgkin's single sliced just far enough away from a hard-charging senior right fielder Ben Hines, who was unable to secure the catch. The game-tying run scored on the play, then Bethel took the lead on catcher Noah Wenberg's two-run single.

Cortland needed extra to avoid an upset but Wheaton (Mass.) did not have the same magic, dropping their opener to Johnson and Wales 6-3. Cortland nearly defeated Bridgewater State in regulation, with runners at the corners in the ninth, but a caught stealing sent the game to extras. When the Red Dragons came back up in the bottom of the 10th, Scott Giordano, who was at the plate when the caught stealing ended the ninth, took the game into his own hands, taking Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros for a walkoff homer. Dane DellaValle went the distance, throwing 123 pitches for Johnson & Wales, helping the Wildcats improve to just 18-25 on the season. He allowed just two earned runs and struck out seven, while Trevor Juan hit a two-run, two-out homer in the second to help stake the Wildcats to a 4-1 lead.

Baldwin Wallace also had its walk-off moment on Friday. The Yellowjackets gave up three runs to Brockport in the first but that was all the Golden Eagles got as Balwdin Wallace tied it up in the seventh inning and walked off into the winners bracket in the ninth. Webster also needed its offense to pick its up. Early on it looked like a blowout as the Gorloks scored four in the first, but Crown held strong and eventually took a 5-4 lead. A five-run seventh proved to be the difference maker as the Gorloks advanced into the winners bracket. Stevens Point also got off to a good start only to see Lawrence make a game of the contest. The Pointers flexed their muscles and prevailed 11-6.

Jack Oberli belted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap off a five run ninth to earn the Cardinals' a 12-8 win over Coe College on at Zimmermann Field. For a team passed over last year, this was a sweet victory. Justin Rios led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk before Trey Roach and Paul Beverly were each hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Cardinals tied the contest at eight apiece, thanks to a Coe error. With the bases still loaded, Jack Oberli sent a home run over the left field fence and the celebration erupted.

LaGrange, playing for the first time since the loss of two freshmen pitchers to a vehicle accident, took command of the best-of-five series with 7-3 and  9-7 wins over Centenary (La.). The Panthers can with regional title and take the rest of the weekend off with one win tomorrow. In the other five game regional, Trinity (Texas) defeats Texas Dallas 7-4 with game two set for Saturday.

Lynchburg wanted the opening day win and a date with Birmingham-Southrern, a 10-2 winner over Earlham in the opeing game of the Lynchburg regional. With a 4-2 margin after a Riley O'Donovan three-run home run, the Hornets turned to Grayson Thurman who earned the 7-3 win in 4 1/3 innings of relief. Lynchburg had a tough assignment on offense as they squared off with Salve Regina's ace Dominic Perachi. The lefty came into the game with a 0.53 ERA and a 9-0 record. In the third inning, O'Donovan faced Perachi with two outs and the bases loaded. Salve Regina's pitcher appeared to be out of the inning but a balk was called and Avery Neaves scored. Still at the plate, O'Donovan crushed a ball over the left field fence to put the Hornets up 4-2.

Grant Manning earned win number eight in a solid performance by the Chapman pitcher. The Panthers dealt the Boxers a 3-1 loss in the opening game of the Regional played on the Chapman campus. Manning ran into trouble in the ninth and left a 3-1 game with the tying run in soring position. Dylan Holt faced just one batter to lock down the win for this third save on the season. AJ Anzai swung the hot bat with two RBIs on a 3-for-4 day that icluded a double and a home run. In the late game, Pomona Pitzer solved the Cal Lutheran game plan and came away with a 14-6 win.

Eastern Connecticut fell behind early to Swarthmore but any upset plans for the Garnet were dashed as the Warriors put up a pair of three run innings to erase the deficet in their 10-7 comeback win. Birmingham Southern was running on all cylinders in a 10-2 win over Earlham in the regional of misfits. Three of the regional participants had to travel long distances, sometimes passing other regional sites on their way to the Hill City.

In a matchup of former CSAC rivals, Keystone tallied five runs in the last three innings to grab a come-from-behind 7-5 victory at Immaculata in the opening contest of the 2022 NCAA Regionals, hosted by the Mighty Macs. In the eighth, Pedro Abreu executed a run-scoring sacrifice bunt - as pinch-runner Devin Reed tied the game at 5-5. Julio Acosta and RJ Gouldsbury tacked on runs in the top of the ninth thanks to a double and single to go ahead 7-5. Nathan Hinkley came in relief to earn the save to clinch the opening tournament win for the Giants. The second game in the Immaculata regional was pushed back to Saturday.

Shenandoah beat St. Joseph’s (L.I.) 10-3 in the first regional on the campus of the Winchester, Va. school. The Hornets banged out 16 hits in the victory and took command with a six-run third inning, while starting pitcher Jacob Faivre limited one of the nation’s best-hitting teams to five hits in a complete-game effort. Tucker Alch (10-2) struck out 10 and scattered seven hits and one walk in a complete game 7-1 win over the Stevens Ducks. Catholic and Shenadoah will meet in the winners bracket.

Denison survived a shaky defense. The Bid Red committed three errors but had enough offense to overcome the miscues. Denison defeated Penn State Harrisburg 14-6, outhitting the Lions 16-9. Middlebury flexed their offensive muscles and defeated Rochester 10-5 in the Rochester Regional at Towers Field on Friday afternoon. Middlebury used a big fourth inning, scoring four runs, all of which were unearned to grab the lead for good, capitalizing on one of four Yellowjacket errors in the game. "We didn't take care of the baseball today, which forced our pitching staff to throw more pitches than they had to," said head coach Joe Reina after the game.

UW-Whitewater also had an easy time with the MSOE as even a lengthy rain delay just delayed the inevitable. The Washington & Jefferson and Lebanon Valley College played a game that spanned more than five hours in length that included a two-plus hour weather delay. In the end, Tyler Horvat inished with two hits, scored a pair of runs and tossed six strong innings of relief to guided W&J to a 5-1 win.

Marietta's pitching wasn't quite on through the first five innings, but senior reliever Sam Mathews, the Ohio Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, came in and erased any thoughts of a comeback by the Hornets (26-12) as Marietta survived upset minded Kalamazoo 9-7. Mathews earned his 13th save — a school record for a season. While it was a goal of his at the start of the season, Mathews's focus now is on winning as many post-season games as possible. "We're just trying to get wins. Like coach said, a win is a win this time of year. I don't think anyone is looking at their stats this time of year," said Mathews, who gave up two hits and struck out two over the final four innings. "We're just trying to win and move to the next one."

At the beginning of the year, the Aurora Spartans offense was going to have to win games, today was no exception as Aurora defeated Augustana 9-8. Augustana put together a late-game rally but could not eclipse Aurora's advantage. Trailing 4-1, Aurora went on a roll starting in the bottom of the fourth frame. The Spartans plated three runs in the fourth to tie the score. Aurora then managed another tally in the fifth on a sacrifice and scored two more on a Sean Rivera home run. The Spartans did just enough in the home half of the eighth inning with an RBI single to score the go-ahead run. Aurora held on in the ninth inning to win the 8-7 ballgame.

Christopher Newport scored an unearned run in the bottom of the tenth inning to beat Mount Aloysius, 4-3. Brayden Hodges reached on a two-out double for the Captains and came around to score the winning running when Drew Caroline's infield single to the second baseman was thrown away at first."This game looked like the first game of a regional for a group that only has two players that's been to a regional, Christopher Newport head coach John Harvell. "Like I told them at the beginning, once you get to this point it doesn't matter what your record is."