By Dylan Feltovich
Special to D3sports.com
EASTLAKE, Ohio — A combination of elite pitching from Sean Mulligan and a two-run second inning fueled third-seeded Salve Regina to a 2-0 victory over second-seeded UW-Whitewater.
The pitching duel resulted in the quickest game in D-III World Series history, finishing in one hour and 44 minutes.
“That was one of the best pitching games you’ll see,” said Salve Regina coach Eric Cirella. “In our program, that’s as good as you’ll ever see.”
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| Sean Mulligan got the win in one of the best pitchers' duels in any Division III World Series. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
The matchup featured two starting pitchers who were selected as D3baseball.com All-Region Pitcher of the Year to their respective regions. But it was Mulligan that would walk away with the victory.
“Something that I’ve been struggling with my past couple starts has been my curveball, and today, it was there,” said Mulligan, when talking about his performance. “It really helps out when you have all three pitches working for you.”
Mulligan would go the distance, giving up no runs on four hits in nine innings of work.
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Salve Regina shortstop Michael Breen ignited the Seahawks offense in the second inning with a two-run single, knocking in Tyler Cannoe and Hunter Yaworski.
“I told myself to be aggressive and find a barrel,” Breen said. It was a really big spot, and you never know when an early game lead could win you a ballgame.”
After giving up the two runs, Hilker was able to settle in for the rest of the game. The sophomore went the full eight innings, giving up two runs on five hits.
“I just tried my best to slow the game down,” said Hilker on his adjustments after the second inning. “I started to trust in the pitch calling, and then executing the pitches as well.”
Whitewater threatened in the top of the seventh inning with back-to-back singles from Adam Cootway and Danny Hopper. The spark of offense was immediately shut down by Mulligan, and the Warhawks were unable to manufacture anything offensive.
“[Mulligan] had his stuff going, but we were forcing it,” Cootway said about the team's offensive struggles. “Hilker gave us a chance, and that’s all we could ask for. But it’s just baseball; sometimes your hit balls right at guys.”
UW-Whitewater is set to take on Birmingham-Southern tomorrow in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Salve Regina advances to the Bracket 2 championship game and will play the winner of UW-W and B-SC on Monday at 1:15 p.m. The surviving team must beat Salve Regina twice to make the Division III Championship Series.