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| UW-Eau Claire capped off its season with a doubleheader sweep of Carleton on Tuesday at Bollinger Fields UW-Eau Claire athletics photo |
Centerfielder Javaun Smith & designated hitter Elias Fermin both drove in two RBI, while each went two-for-five with a run scored to lead Lehman to a 7-4 victory against hosts and defending champion Baruch during the semifinals of CUNYAC Championships on Tuesday at Flowers Park. The Lightning, who now advanced to the CUNYAC Finals this weekend at Brooklyn's Maimonides Park, go to a 7-21 overall record, while the Bearcats drop to an 11-14 mark. After an intense 4-4 deadlock with six innings in the book, Lehman scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 6-4 advantage. The Lightning closed out the scoring in the top of the ninth with a solo homer by catcher Jeremmy Santos. On the mound, Tran Hennessy pitched a strong first five innings for Lehman with four strikeouts, however got the no-decision as teammate Randy Polanco came in and held Baruch scoreless for the remaining four innings for the victory. The Lightning will take on CCNY Beavers, which defeated John Jay Bloodhounds, 15-3, in the other semifinal, for the CUNYAC Championship in a best-of-three series at Maimonides Park with the first encounter set for this Friday.
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Eureka blanked Fontbonne 6-0 and clinched its first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament victory in program history on Tuesday. With senior Nathan Garard on the mound, the Red Devils took care of business and came out of every jam they encountered unscathed. Garard threw 107 pitches over seven innings of shutout baseball, only allowing seven hits and one walk. "It feels great to be a part of something that hasn't been done in our program's history," Garard said after the win. "The guys are really fired up about it and excited to play more games." In the eighth, fellow ace Mike Dunne took over after Fontbonne slugger Matt Helm led off with a single. The Griffins then reached on a walk, a fielder's choice and a single to load the bases, bringing Trey Kueper up to bat. "We talked all week, and we put on anything that I handed out, two things," EC coach Jerry Rashid said. "'Believe and expect victory' – and don't be surprised when it happens. And, overall, that's about as complete of a game as we've played all season. We had excellent, dominant pitching, really consistent defense and really good hitting – all of our outs were hard outs today."
Westminster (Mo.) started off finals week by hosting a SLIAC Baseball Tournament Quarterfinal game against the Greenville Panthers in a matchup of the #4 and #5 seeds, respectivel, getting a 8-3 win. There was a great crowd on hand at Saucier Field to witness this rematch from last season's quarterfinal game that was held at Greenville that saw the Blue Jays jump out to a 10-0 lead only for the Panthers to come back and win. Freshman Derek Archer would get the nod and start the biggest game of his young collegiate career. The Westminster College bats have been red hot all season, leading the SLIAC in many offensive categories and today was no different. Troy Romero wasted little time getting the Blue Jays on the board after roping a double to the right-center field wall and scoring Stevan Diaz to give the Jays an early 1-0 lead. The Panthers would answer in the top of the second but the jays reclaimed the lead in the fourth, 4-1. Greenville and Westminster would trade runs , then the Blue Jays would tack on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, putting Westminster up 8-3. Archer would get the win, his fifth of the season, improving to 5-3. Brooks Chandler would get the call to the bullpen. He would pitch two-thirds of an inning. Then the senior, Jake Waeltermann would come in to close the game out, striking out three batters and picking up his first save of the season.
After losing a late lead in game one, St. Olaf College finished its season by winning a pitchers' duel that turned into an offensive explosion by both teams late to wind up with a split against Concordia-Moorhead on Tuesday afternoon at Bucky Burgau Field. St. Olaf (16-18, 11-9 MIAC) owned a 6-1 advantage in the fifth inning of game one, but Concordia (20-16, 14-6 MIAC) plated the game's final six runs, including three in the seventh, to take the opener, 7-6, in walk-off fashion. The two offenses combined for just three runs through seven innings in game two before the Oles and Cobbers put up three-straight five-spots in a game St. Olaf won by an 11-7 margin. The Cobbers entered the day already having secured a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoffs, while the Oles were eliminated from contention the day before due to Concordia's sweep of Bethell. The split sent the Cobbers into the postseason as the No. 3 seed. St. Olaf's 11 MIAC victories this season are its highest total since going 13-7 in 2019. The Oles will lose just three members of this season's roster – Harald Borg, Avery von Herrmann, and Lucas Warner – to graduation.
UW-Eau Claire capped off its season with a doubleheader sweep of Carleton on Tuesday at Bollinger Fields. The Blugolds won the first game 13-8 and the second 12-2 in seven innings. The Blugolds pounded 21 hits across the doubleheader and had three innings where they scored five or more runs. They recovered from a shaky start in game one by using a pair of big innings, and did the same in game two with a seven-run frame. Austin Buck finished 3 for 5 to lead the Blugolds in game one. Walter Johnson and Scott Richards had two hits and three RBIs apiece. Brennan Cohen earned the win by pitching four strong innings of relief, holding Carleton to one run. In the season finale, UW-Eau Claire crossed the plate seven times in the second inning to put the game away. Carson Windeshausen and Richards had run-scoring singles and Connor Weik hit a two-RBI double. Jacob Lacy added a sacrifice fly too. Charley Griffin pitched a complete game on the mound to earn the win. He fanned 11 batters in his strongest performance of the season to earn his first win. He held the Knights to six hits and walked three. Casimier and Windeshausen led the offense with two hits each. The Blugolds finished the season with a 12-27 record. They recognized their two graduating seniors — Richards and Kendal Lecker— with a senior day ceremony between games.
Junior right-handed pitcher Eli Wilder and tidy defense led No. 2 seed Asbury (23-13-1) past No. 3 seed Kentucky Christian (20-31) on Tuesday night in Wilmore, Ky., to open the NCCAA Baseball Mideast Regional, 7-2. Wilder went 7.0 innings in his eighth start of the year with only two earned runs to move to a team-leading 6-0 record. Holten Handel was solid out of the bullpen, going 2.0 innings with no runs and two strikeouts to finish the game. NCCAA Mideast Region Player of the Year Ethan Cartwright and Nathaniel Frank led offensively, combining for three hits and three runs while Cartwright blasted his fourth home run this season. 2023 NCCAA Mideast Region Awards were given out before the game, with Asbury representing strongly. Asbury freshman Andrew Billington was named Freshman of the Year, freshman Brody Bearden was named Pitcher of the Year, and junior Ethan Cartwright was naamed Player of the Year.