By Dave Kisor

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- UW-Stevens Point came out with its bats on fire in the first elimination game of the 2010 Division III baseball championships, defeating Mass-Boston 13-3.

Following a walk to No. 2 Eric Fritz in the bottom of the first, Jeremy Richter singled and hustled to second on the throw. Fritz advanced to third on the play. He scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Sam Spurney. Justin Jirschele walked and Jordan Rennicke singled to right scoring Richter. Dan Douglas drew a walk moving Rennicke to second. Steve Considine then got the big hit, a three-run double. Travis Tuschen then singled to drive in Considine. By the time the dust settled, the Pointers had scored a total of six runs, of which four came in with two outs.

The Pointers went up 9-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Fritz homered to left, Richter was hit by a pitch and Spurney homered to left driving in his second and third runs of the game.

The Beacons finally broke through, in the top of the fifth, scoring their first run of the championship tournament when Ryan Walsh reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a throwing error. He then moved to third on an interference call as Walsh was trying to get back to second to avoid a pickoff. Tim Fontaine singled to right field to drive in the Beacons' run to make the score 9-1 as the middle of the fifth came to an end. UW-Stevens Point responded as Tuschen doubled and scored on a home run to right by Brandon Archambeau. Back to back doubles by Fritz and Richter increased the Pointers' lead to 12-1 at the bottom of the fifth.

Matt Consiglio opened up the Beacons' sixth inning with a walk. Drew Tambling singled to right, moving Consiglio to second. Mark McCormick reached on an error as the Pointers first baseman, Richter, tried to throw out Tambling at second, but he threw the ball into left center, allowing Consiglio to score, bringing the score to 12-2.

The Beacons' batters kept working in the seventh as Jeff Outzen lead off with a walk. Mattei then singled to right to move Outzen to second. Consiglio then doubled to drive run number three, bringing the score to 12-3 entering the bottom of the inning. Once again, the Pointers answered as Archambeau, with one out, doubled to center field. Richter singled to right driving in run number 13 and the Pointers were up by 10 as the seventh came to a close.

For the Pointers, Scott Williams scattered 11 hits over seven innings, allowing three runs. He walked three and had four strikeouts. Richter went 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Spurney had three runs batted in and Archambeau, Fritz, and Tuschen had two hits each.

Pointer coach Pat Bloom made reference to the good start to the game as UW-Stevens Point put up the six runs in the bottom of the first. "I thought Steve's [Considine] hit was huge for our offense, to put up the numbers in the first."

Starting pitcher Scott Williams agreed. "It was nice to be back out there and obviously it was nice to get some run support right away." Williams also recognized the defense behind him. Although the Pointers committed four errors, Williams said "That's the way I have played all year, just let my defense work." Bloom also commented on Williams' pitching: "He had a quick inning in the middle of the game and we were confident we could have him pitch another inning. We like to get our starters through seven."

Danny Gomez took the loss for the Beacons. Walsh and Mattei had three and two hits, respectively. Mass-Boston ends their season with a 32-17 record.

Brendan Eygabroat complimented UW-Stevens Point and then put his team's D-III World Series experience in perspective: "I mean it's the World Series, we were thrilled to be here ... yesterday we were a bit nervy. I am glad we came out today and played better baseball ... we have a young core of guys and I hope we can learn from this and make it an annual occurrence."

Senior left fielder Drew Tambling said none of Friday's nerves carried over into Saturday's game. "I think with the first inning yesterday it was the awe of playing at this level and being at the World Series. I don't think we were all nervous ... but coming into today we were totally relaxed, I mean for all of us we realized what an honor it was to be here."

UW-Stevens Point (34-17) moves on to play the loser of the Heidelberg-Ill. Wesleyan contest Sunday.

Second round from Appleton
As Johns Hopkins coach Bob Babb put it Friday evening, a double-elimination tournament gives each team a get out of jail free card. But four of our eight teams used that card on the first day in Grand Chute, Wis.

Two of them were sent packing on Saturday.

In the first game of the day, that was Mass-Boston, as UW-Stevens Point put a six-spot on the board in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 13-3 win. The Beacons, surprise winners of the Little East tournament and the New England regional, were the first team eliminated.

• Saturday's schedule, with live stats and audio
• Photo galleries from Appleton
• Coverage from Friday's games
• 2010 All-Americans announced
• Discuss the Championships on D3boards.com
• Follow @d3baseball on Twitter

In Saturday's second game, Johns Hopkins exploded for seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to rally past Shenandoah and remain in the tournament with a 7-4 win.

After being shut out Friday afternoon, Mass-Boston finally got a run in the fifth inning on Saturday against UW-Stevens Point, but the Pointers went deep three times in building a 12-1 lead and advance to Sunday where they will face the loser of Heidelberg and Illinois Wesleyan. The Beacons were outscored 25-3 in the two games.

Johns Hopkins broke out of its offensive struggles in Appleton, putting a seven-spot on the board in the top of the eighth to put a 2-0 deficit behind it. Jesse Sikorski provided the big hit with a bases-loaded double to drive in three runs, then Lee Bolyard added a two-run double and Chris Huisman followed with an RBI triple, his second extra-base hit of the inning. Shenandoah answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth but went down quietly in the ninth, wrapping up Babb's 900th career win.

Plus, get the rundown on Friday's action from Appleton, with Pat Coleman and Jim Dixon below:

By Dave Kisor

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- In the final game of the night, two key conditions were different at Fox Cities Stadium: the lights were on and the wind, which had been blowing in all day, stopped.

And against Shenandoah, Illinois Wesleyan batters took advantage of the conditions and did something twice in the first inning that no other team had done all day. Casey McIntosh and Jeff Grodecki each hit home runs, each of the two-run variety to stake the Titans to a 4-0 lead.

Brett Moore led off the bottom of the first with a single to left field. McIntosh then unloaded a 0-1 pitch over the left field wall against D3baseball.com All-American Greg Van Sickler. Following a strikeout, Ryan Hopp singled to left and history repeated itself as Grodecki delivered the ball over the left field fence in precisely the same place that McIntosh had hit his.

Van Sickler said Wesleyan's hitting at the start of the game was "like a punch in the face. They hit the ball around and I give them a lot of credit.

"I thought I made some good pitches ... I tip my hat to them."

Shenandoah fought back with two runs in the top of the second. Scot Van Dusseldorp was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Mike Smith drove the ball to right center field and what looked to be a routine fly ball turned out to be a three-base error. Van Dusseldorp scored on the error and Smith ended up at third. Keaton Neeb then singled to left, scoring Smith and cutting the Titans' lead in half, 4-2.

In the bottom of the second, Illinois Wesleyan answered with its fifth run of the game. Mike Morrissey reached base on a fielders' choice and moved to second when McIntosh was walked. Kevin Sullivan then singled to drive in Morrissey, making the score 5-2.

Shenandoah picked up a third run in the top of the third as Jesse Henry singled with two outs and scored on a Van Dusseldorp double to left, making the score 5-3.

Cory Nelson led off the sixth inning with a home run, off a 2-2 pitch, over the left field wall to draw Shenandoah within one at 5-4. "I thought it (the home run) might give us a little spark, but he [Illinois Wesleyan pitcher Jason Pankau] kept us off balance."

Illinois Wesleyan responded in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Moore doubled to center and then moved to third on a single by Morrissey. McIntosh flew out to right field, but the sac fly scored Moore to make the score 6-4.

The Titans kept pressing as they entered the bottom of the seventh. Hopp started the frame with a single to left center. Following two outs, Hopp attempted to steal second. The throw by catcher Neeb struck Hopp in the helmet and the ball ricocheted into left field, allowing Hopp to go to third. McDermott then singled in Hopp to extend the Titan lead to 7-4.

As the top of the ninth started, Shenandoah saw its chances running out. Kevin Brashears opened the inning with a double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a ground out by Henry and then scored on a Van Sickler single to left. This brought Shenandoah within two runs, but that is as close as the Hornets would come and the game ended with Illinois Wesleyan on top 7-5.

Shenandoah coach Kevin Anderson said he was "very proud of his players and that they competed well." He praised Pankau, who scattered 10 hits over nine innings, allowing three earned runs. He had seven strikeouts and walked just one Shenandoah batter in the complete game win. Pankau said "I did not even have to ask if I was coming out in the ninth. Coach said I was."

Illinois Wesleyan coach Dennis Martel stated how important this win was to the Titan program: "We were here a couple of years ago and took it on the chin; now we have a bunch of veterans and we weren't intimidated. We came out in the first inning and got those four runs and it took the edge off."

The win at the tournament solidified the best year ever for the Titans, but their work is not done as they face Heidelberg in round two.

First round from Appleton
It took until the final game of the day, but the ball finally started jumping out of Fox Cities Stadium.

Illinois Wesleyan hit the first two homers of the night out of the ballpark in the bottom of the first inning in taking a 4-0 lead on Shenandoah, while the Hornets put a ball over the left field wall in the top of the sixth. But the Titans, who had to beat Carthage twice in the CCIW final to reach the tournament and were the bottom seed in the Central Regional, continued their postseason run with a 7-5 win in Friday's nightcap. Friday scoreboard.

• Saturday's schedule, with live stats and audio
• 2010 All-Americans announced
• Discuss the Championship round on D3boards.com
• Follow @d3baseball on Twitter for frequent updates

Friday was a day where even the blowout was interesting, as Linfield hurler Ryan Larson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the Wildcats' 12-0 whitewashing of Mass-Boston. Photo gallery. Cortland State got the day going with a bang, scoring three in the eighth and two in the ninth of the first game in rallying past local favorite UW-Stevens Point 9-8. Photo gallery.

And in a battle of the two top teams in the D3baseball.com Top 25, No. 2 Heidelberg scratched out a run in the top of the ninth to edge No. 1 Johns Hopkins 3-2. Photo gallery.

"We know it is a double elimination tournament and you get a 'get out of jail free' card," said Johns Hopkins coach Bob Babb. "I was hoping to hold on to it but we played ours right away."

JHU, UW-Stevens Point, Mass-Boston and Shenandoah have already played theirs, and face elimination Saturday.

By Jim Dixon

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- The game featuring the two top programs in D-III baseball did not disappoint. Tied 2-2 in the ninth inning, Jason Lash drove in Steve Decker to give Heidelberg the lead and Andy Lowe followed that with a 1-2-3 inning for the victory.

"I think that's a baseball game that is supposed to be played at the World Series," said Heidelberg coach Matt Palm. "That's why you work all year to be here, to play in that type of ball game."

Johns Hopkins and Heidelberg traded shutout innings until Heidelberg scored twice in the sixth inning. Alex Monroe was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a Andrew Buelow single. Derek Andrzejczak moved the runners up 90 feet. Elvin Williams' RBI groundout broke the scoreless tie and Richardo Lizcano single put the Berg up 2-0.

The Blue Jays tied the game in the eighth inning. Hopkins' leadoff hitter, Sam Wernick, started the rally when he legged out a one-out infield hit. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Chris Huisman and Brian Youchak got Johns Hopkins a 2-2 tie.

• Links to audio and live stats
• 2010 All-Americans announced
• Discuss the Championship round on D3boards.com
• Follow @d3baseball on Twitter for frequent updates

In the top of the ninth, Decker started the winning rally with a single to center field. Gar Keen sacrificed Decker to second and moved to third on Willie Brechum's infield single. This set up Lash's game winning single.

"I wanted to stay focus and knew I could get the job done," said Lash. "I was trying to hit a fly ball to the outfield and I just got enough of it and get it up the middle."

Heidelberg was led by Andrew Buelow, who went 3-for-4, while Lizcano and Decker each had two-hit games for the Student Princes. Youchak and John Swarr had two hits apiece for the Blue Jays.

Heidelberg starter Ethan Holt pitched six innings of shutout ball before being replaced by Andy Lowe. Lowe came into the game with runners on first and third with no outs, but one pitch later Heidelberg was back in the dugout with a double play erasing the Blue Jays threat. "I threw a change up and kept it down," said Lowe. "Getting that double play kicked the momentum back our way."

Alex Eliopoulos took the loss with three runs allowed, all earned, in 8.1 innings. Despite allowing the lead runner on in seven of the nine innings, Hopkins coach Bob Babb had praise for his starter. "Eliopoulos did a great job, pitching out of almost every jam."

"We know it is a double elimination tournament and you get a 'get out of jail free' card," said Babb. "I was hoping to hold on to it but we played ours right away."

Babb will have to wait for Saturday as he tries again for his 900th win as a head coach. The Blue Jays await the loser of Friday's game between Shenandoah and Illinois Wesleyan. Heidelberg will play the winner of the late game in the last game on Saturday.

By Dave Kisor

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - Linfield beat Mass-Boston 12-0 in game two of the 2010 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, in what can be called a "complete win" for the Wildcats.

Linfield entered the game with a record of 34-11, having won their final nine conference games to earn the Northwest Conference automatic spot in the West Region tournament. They went through the regional tournament and defeated Mississippi College in the final to advance to the championship tournament.

Coach Scott Brosius summed it up: "We had a positive start to the tournament. We had good starting pitching and quality at-bats. We were able to get the lead early and we talk about building the lead and we were able to do that."

• Links to audio and live stats
• 2010 All-Americans announced
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In fact, Linfield did build an early lead. Leadoff hitter Tyson Smith singled and promptly stole second. No. 2 hitter Kelson Brown reached on an error as Smith moved to third. Cole Bixenman then doubled to left to drive in Smith and Brown. A second Beacon error allowed Zach Boskovich to reach base. Rhett Fenton then doubled to right driving in Bixenman. Kevin Coleman followed with a fly to right, which scored Boscovich. By the middle of the first, Linfield was up 4-0.

Ryan Larson, Linfield starting pitcher, set the Beacons down in order and was on his way to six innings of no-hit baseball. "You see it on the scoreboard and you try not to think about it," said Larson, who ended up allowing just two hits over eight innings.

In the third, Linfield scored when Boskovich reached on the Beacons' third error of the game. Fenton then singled to drive in Boskovich, moving the score to 5-0. In the sixth, Eric Evenson got Linfield going again,as he singled to left. Smith (Tyson) singled to left, moving Evenson to second. Dustin Smith then doubled to left, scoring Evenson. Tyson Smith moved to third and scored on a sac fly by Brown. Dustin Smith moved to third on a wild pitch. Bixenman singled to left to score Smith, increasing Linfield's lead to 8-0.

Linfield added two more in the seventh inning as Coleman and Mitch Webb singled. Evenson's sac bunt moved the runners to second and third, respectively. Tyson Smith's single drove in Coleman and Webb to make the score 10-0. The Wildcats tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth, when Webb and Gunnar Cederberg opened the inning with singles. Webb later got walked in and Cederberg scored on a fielders choice.

Mass-Boston coach Brendan Eygabroat noted, "We got beat in all three phases of the game. There was not a lot to analyze. They just played well." He added "We can come back tomorrow and show how we play baseball. We did not do a good job of that today. We had a couple of misplayed fly balls and a ground ball."

Mark McCormack, one of two UMass-Boston batters to get a hit said, "we were focused. His pitches were moving in and out."

Linfield's Fenton added "We had a game plan and we just stuck with that." Fenton led the Wildcats with three hits and two RBIs. Tyson Smith, Dustin Smith, Bixenman and Webb had two hits each.

Larson got the win, moving to 12-3 on the year. McCormack and Jose Ramon Santos got the lone hits for the Beacons, while James Dalton took the loss, giving up nine runs, five earned, in his six innings.

Linfield will play Cortland State in the second round.

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - In the opening game of the 2010 Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium Cortland State came back for a 9-8 win over UW-Stevens Point. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jason Simone extended his hitting streak to 19 to tie the game and John Zilnicki's single fell out of reach of three fielders for the Red Dragon win. Cortland State advances to play Linfield and UW-Stevens Point will play Mass-Boston in the first game Saturday.

"You play nine innings and that's the game of baseball," said Cortland coach Joe Brown. "I give these guys a tremendous amount of credit."

UW-Stevens Point started the scoring in the first. A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases with not outs. Justin Jirschele brought in Brad Archambeau on a sacrifice fly to center. Cortland escaped without surrendering another run and added one itself when Andersen Gardner singled in Matt June.

• Links to audio and live stats
• 2010 All-Americans announced
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The Pointers retook the lead with four two-out runs in the second. Travis Tuschen singled and moved to third on Archambeau's double to left. Walks to Eric Fritz and Jeremy Richter made the score 2-1. Sam Spurney's double to right center cleared the bases for a 5-1 lead. On the pitching mound, a blister on Travis Ratliff's pitching hand added to his wildness and limited the Red Dragons starter to two innings.

Stevens Point added two more in the third off Cortland's reliever, Adam Brown. Jared Surman's walk was sandwiched between Jordon Ronnicke and Dan Douglas singles to load the bases. Tuschen's ground out and Archambeau's single each brought in a run.

Cortland cut into the Pointer lead in the fourth. A walk to Adam Dimino and Gardner's second hit of the game put runners on second and third with no out. The Pointers got two quick outs and it looked like another goose egg on the scoreboard until Khyle Domino stroked a two run single to left.

The Pointers made the score 8-4 in the sixth. An error on the Red Dragon's first baseman put Jirschele on first and he eventually moved around the bases to score on Tuchen's infield single to third.

Cortland made it a one-run game in the eighth inning. Gardner walked and scored on Steve Nickel's triple down the right field line. Cortland worked four straight walks after a Simone groundout for its final two runs of the inning.

Scott Williams came in to close out the ninth for the Pointers and saw the Red Dragons rally for two runs. Adam Dimino singled to open the inning and moved to second on a failed pickoff. Gardner moved Dimino to third on a ground out and Nickel's intentional walk put runners on the corners. Simone's came up and his single to center scored the tying run. A walk and strikeout to Klye Dimino and Kris Gentzke brought up Zilnicki and his game-winning single.

We start the final road to the Walnut and Bronze with back-to-back marathon days of baseball. In the first game, UW-Stevens Point has come out swinging and leads the game 8-6 in the late innings. With the Cortland State starting pitcher out with a blister on his finger, the fate of the Red Dragons will be in the hands of the offense.

Someone will be bringing home a Division III baseball championship for the first time. Only Cortland State and Johns Hopkins have ever played in a championship game, with Johns Hopkins falling to Trinity (Conn.) in 2008 and Cortland State losing to UW-Whitewater in 2005.

We'll have full coverage all weekend, including live updates on D3boards.com, Twitter and news coverage right here on the front page of D3baseball.com.

First-round matchups (all times Central):
10:00 a.m.: Cortland State vs. UW-Stevens Point
1:15 p.m.: Mass-Boston vs. Linfield
4:30 p.m.: Heidelberg vs. Johns Hopkins
7:45 p.m.: Shenandoah vs. Illinois Wesleyan

• Links to audio and live stats

Other coverage from this week:
• 2010 All-Americans announced
• Discuss the Championship round on D3boards.com
• Follow @d3baseball on Twitter for frequent updates
• 2010 Appleton preview

D3baseball.com names 2010 All-Americans

Division III All-American baseball players typically stand out statistically ... so what are the stats for the "average" first-team position player All-American? A batting average of .453, with 61 runs scored, 80 hits, 18 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs, with 62 runs batted in, eight stolen bases, and a fielding percentage of .961.

What about the average first-team All-American starting pitcher? They have an earned run average of 2.01, having pitched 78 innings, allowing 60 hits, while striking out 79, and holding the opposition to a batting average of .211. These numbers put into perspective the caliber of the 2010 NCAA Division III first-team All-Americans.

• Complete list of D3baseball.com All-Americans

The 2010 D3baseball.com player of the year is outfielder Dave Kahn, of the No. 1 ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Kahn batted .473, with 72 runs scored and 79 hits. He had 16 home runs and 70 RBIs. Kahn was joined on the first team by fellow Blue Jays Brian Youchak (2nd base; AA 1st team 2008) and pitcher Sam Eagleson. In total, Hopkins will bring five All-Americans to Fox Cities Stadium, when they play No.2 ranked Heidellberg in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Division III World Series.

St. Thomas' Matt Schuld is the 2010 D3baseball.com Pitcher of the Year. Schuld led the Tommies with 10 wins. He had an ERA of 2.05, pitched 83.1 innings and struck out 80 batters, while holding opponents to a batting average of .211. Schuld was a third-team selection in 2009.

Joining Kahn, Schuld, Youchak and Eagleson on the 2010 first-team are catcher Regan Dixon of Hardin-Simmons (3rd team 2009), Justin Franklin of Ferrum (1st base), Willie Brechun of Heidelberg (3rd base), Josh Fyffe of Penn State Behren (ss), Kevin Brashears of Shenandoah (OF), Ricardo Lizcano of Heidelberg (OF), DH Mike Marion of Virginia Wesleyan, Greg Van Sickler of Shenandoah (UTL), as well as pitchers Chris Degoti (Tufts), Dave Filak (Oneonta State; 2009 AA 3rd team), and Brian Rauh of Chapman.

In total, 12 of the 2010 D3baseball.com All-American honorees will be hitting the field for the Division III World Series, in what is sure to be a showcase of baseball talent.

With the year that Johns Hopkins had in football this past season, upsetting two undefeated teams on the road en route to the national quarterfinals, you'd think it was hard for the Blue Jays to top that.

And for Sam Eagleson, who had six interceptions, and Sam Wernick, who was third on the team in receiving yards, it would be doubly tough to top.

Except they have. The two-sport sophomore duo has had a big hand in getting the Blue Jays to Appleton, where they will play for the Division III baseball championship. Read more inside.

Also, Johns Hopkins coach Bob Babb was interviewed on WMAR in Baltimore on Tuesday morning, with his team headed to Appleton for the second time in three seasons. The full video is below.

• 2010 Appleton preview
• Highlights and interviews from regional finals
• Friday's game schedule
• Discuss the Championship round on D3boards.com
• Follow @d3baseball on Twitter for frequent updates

Plus, check back Wednesday morning for the announcement of the D3baseball.com All-American team, or scroll down for more coverage.