MARIETTA, Ohio - Washington & Jefferson sophomore Eddie Nogay has a history of giving up a lot of hits. But the right-hander doesn't seem to mind, as he is still perfect as a college pitcher.
Nogay gave up 11 hits, but tossed his second complete-game shutout as the Presidents rolled to 8-0 victory over Wooster in the 2012 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Don Schaly Stadium Thursday.
"We have a great defense and I just tried to throw the ball to the plate and throw strikes and let the defense take care of what they do," said Nogay, who improved to 7-0 on the season and 10-0 in his career. "We have a great middle infield and we turned some double plays."
W&J (36-9) turned three critical double plays and didn't make any errors.
"That's been a staple of our team all year and that's what was so frustrating about last night," said W&J coach Jeff Mountain in reference to a 13-3 loss to Manchester. "That was very much out of character."
Nogay was totally in character. In the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament, he defeated Thomas More 2-1 after scattering 14 hits.
W&J's offense provided all of the runs he would need with two in the fourth inning on an RBI single by left fielder Brian Szabo and an RBI double by catcher Tyler Schultz.
The big hitter of the day, though, was designate hitter Ronny Peirish. He went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two doubles.
"We're not the most explosive team offensively so we need to do the little things right," Mountain said. "Our pitcher was down in the zone and getting a lot of ground balls."
Wooster pitcher Steve Hagen (7-4) had a strong outing. He gave up 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings and three earned runs. No matter how well the Fighting Scots (27-18) did on the mound it couldn't overshadow the lack of offense during their two games.
After scoring four runs in the first inning of Wednesday's game, Wooster didn't score a run in the next 17 innings.
"I think we could have played another 17 and not score again. … If you get a couple key hits in those situations and it gets contagious," said Wooster coach Tim Pettorini. "I thought we'd play better … the pitching part was pretty good and the fielding was pretty good, but pretty good isn't going to cut it this time of year. So it was disappointing. … Bottom line is we just didn't play good enough."
Pettorini acknowledged the youth of his team, but before the game started he thought the outcome would be different.
"We had a good round of infield, batting practice was good, but the game started and it didn't happen," he said. "We don't have a lot of team speed, we don't bunt well and we don't hit-and-run well. So it means you have to bang the ball and we have a lot of younger guys who need to grow up and it starts in the wait room. We need to be more physical."
The Presidents had three players — right fielder Josh Staniscia, first baseman D.J. Michalski and Szabo — with two hits each. Wooster countered with four players — shortstop John McLain, second baseman Eddie Reese, first baseman Eddie Farrow and third baseman Frank Vance — with two hits each.
W&J is back in action at 9:30 a.m. Friday against the loser of St. John Fisher and Marietta.