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| The NC Wesleyan Bishops won their second D-III baseball title with a 1-0 win over St. Thomas (Minn.). NC Wesleyan athletics photo |
Salem VA - Sean Fleming and Buddy Hernandez combined for a six-hit shutout to lead North Carolina Wesleyan College to a 1-0 win over the University of St. Thomas (Minn) in the 1999 NCAA Division III Baseball National Championship game.
Scott Robeson led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andy Jones. Robeson scored from second on a RBI single by Jeremy Stewart for what proved to be the only run of the game.
Fleming pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and fanning three to pick up his second win of the series. Hernandez pitched the final two innings for his second save of the series, and was the recipient of double plays to end threats in both the eighth and ninth innings.
"I just tried to stay relaxed out there," said Fleming. "I didn't want to get too nervous. The run in the first inning helped me stay relaxed. It's a lot easier when you know the offense is behind you."
St. Thomas had a good chance to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning with runners at the corners and one out. The Battling Bishops turned one of their many fine defensive plays of the series, as St. Thomas' Steve Aronson grounded into a pitcher-short-first double play to end the inning.
The Tommies had a pair of runners on base again in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a single by Matt Faulken and a walk. With runners on first and second and two outs, Dan Novak hit into a fielder's choice to strand two of the nine St. Thomas runners left on base.
NC Wesleyan started a two-out rally of its own in the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles by Brian Woolston and Robeson. Jones hit a two-hopper to third and St. Thomas' Ryan Hartung stepped on the bag for the force-out. N.C. Wesleyan's 10-hit performance included at least one in the opening seven innings, but after the run in the first the Bishops failed to get a runner in scoring position with less than two outs.
After walking Hartung to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning, Fleming was pulled in favor of Hernandez. After a sacrifice bunt to move Hartung to second, Hernandez walked Faulken to give St. Thomas runners on first and second with just one out. The Bishops turned another pitcher-short-first double play to work out of another jam.
St. Thomas loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth as Paul Rafferty doubled and Aronson singled to put runners at the corners. After Hernandez walked Jon Guion, Brad Bonine grounded into a third-second-first double play to end the game.
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1999 All Tournament Team MVP - Barry Blake, NC Wesleyan Catcher - Eric Medina, Cal Lutheran; First Base - Mike Bellovich, William Paterson; Second Base - Andy Jones, NC Wesleyan; Third Base - Jeremy Stewart, NC Wesleyan; Shortstop - Barry Blake; NC Wesleyan; Outfield - Rich Swenson, St. Thomas (Minn); Jack Lipari, William Paterson; Raudel Flores, Cal Lutheran; Designated Hitter - Ryan Hartung, St. Thomas (Minn); Pitcher - Sean Fleming, NC Wesleyan; Chris Olean, St. Thomas (Minn). |
Woolston led the way for NC Wesleyan with a 2-for-3 performance, and Robeson and Stewart were both 2-for-4. Chris Olean threw a complete game for St. Thomas, scattering 10 hits and allowing just the one earned run in the first. Faulken, Aronson, and Rafferty all had two hits apiece.
"I did not have my best stuff out there today, I just tried to throw strikes and let the guys behind me do the rest," said Olean. "No team from our conference has gotten even close to coming this far, so you can't call this season a disappointment."
The 1-0 tally in the championship game is the first-ever in Division III history, and just the third in all three NCAA divisions. Southern California won 1-0 games to win titles in 1957 and 1972. It also marked the second one-run game St. Thomas and NC Wesleyan played in the tournament this year, as the Bishops won a 6-5, 10-inning game on Sunday in Game 11.
"We had a lot of determination today and did not want to let it slip away ," said NC Wesleyan coach Charlie Long. "Sean (Fleming) did an outstanding job today, he got a lot of ground balls, that's his style, that's his key."
The baseball championship for North Carolina Wesleyan is its second, as the Battling Bishops claimed the title in 1989 with two wins over Cal State Stanislaus. NC Wesleyan was a perfect 8-0 in NCAA play and ends its season 42-9. St. Thomas ends its year with a 42-7 record.