D3baseball.com: The best source for Division III baseball information

Notables pages: 1 ... 31 32 33 [34] 35 36 37 ... 99

Fontbonne takes SLIAC title

Fontbonne won the SLIAC, earning their first bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament since 2003. The Griffins, the tournament's No. 4 seed, knocked off No. 2 seed Maryville 6-5 in dramatic fashion. Fontbonne fell behind 4-0 in the second inning but Griffin senior cather Dan Horn laced an RBI double in the third inning scoring Cesar Tovar to trim the lead to 4-1. Maryville responded in the fifth inning building their lead back to when four runs making it 5-1.

Fontbonne tied the game 5-5 scoring four runs in the seventh inning as Jason Nikolaisen and Josh Kraemer had big RBI's doubles. The Griffins took the lead in the eighth on an RBI double by Tovar. Leading 6-5 heading into the ninth, the Griffins look to ease their way to the tournament championship as the first two batter flew out in the ninth. However Maryville's next batter singled followed by a double to centerfield. On the double, Maryville's runner which had singled tried to score but the Griffins' defense threw him out at the plate ending the game.

Sean Wiley earned his second win of the SLIAC Tournament by going seven and a third innings allowing just one run, walking nobody and striking out four.

Fontbonne improbable run to the tournament championship and NCAA Tournament included two wins over No. seed Maryville and victory over No. 1 seed Webster. This is only the second time in the program's history Fontbonne has won the SLIAC Tournament Championship. The other time came in 1998.

All-Tournament Team
Tournament MVP - Sean Wiley (Fontbonne)
Jack Grover (Fontbonne)
Cesar Tovar (Fontbonne)
Dan Horn (Fontbonne)
Chris Stenzel (Maryville)
Robert Huckstep (Maryville)
Jared Mills (Maryville)
Nathan Shelton (Webster)
John DuHadway (Webster)
Brian Stoff (Greenville)

Permalink | May 11, 2009

UW-Whitewater was one of the last teams on our mock selection committee's board. Did the real committee find a place for the Warhawks in the bracket?

UW-Whitewater photo by Tim Gunz

Playoff teams announced

The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 54 teams that will compete in the 2009 Division III baseball championship. There were 35 automatic bids, with six bids set aside for teams not in one of those conference (Pool B) and 13 at-large bids (Pool C) to round out the field.

The Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and South regionals have eight teams apiece, with the rest of the regionals having six teams. The regionals use a double-elimination format.

Playoff toolbox: Wednesday's schedule | The bracket | Playoff Central | Discuss the selections, games

It's seemingly a typical Division III playoff bracket, with three of the top six teams in last week's D3baseball.com Top 25 in the same bracket. Except unlike men's basketball, the Regional of Death is in New England, where even though Trinity (Conn.) is well within the NCAA's driving radius from Farmingdale, N.Y., the defending national champions are in the same bracket with both Little East powers. The top-seeded team at Farmingdale is Cortland State, ranked No. 23 entering last week.

And how did we do on our projections? Could've been better, but unlike football and men's and women's basketball, our mock selection committee doesn't have all the numbers in front of it, and the NCAA refuses to release opponents' winning percentage (OWP) and opponents' opponents' winning percentage (OOWP) data. But as we learned in men's basketball, when there's a head-to-head result (or, perhaps, a three-game sweep) between two teams in line for one of the final Pool C bids, that's hard to ignore, even if it's out of region.

Read on for the full bracket.

Winners of the eight first-round tournaments will qualify for the double-elimination championship at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis., May 22-26.

Mideast Regional
Nicolay Field, Adrian, Mich.
1. Heidelberg (36-7)
2. Wooster (35-8)
3. Marietta (29-15)
4. Adrian (31-9)
5. Concordia, Ill. (33-13)
6. Rose-Hulman (31-12)

Central Regional
Brunner Field, Moline, Ill.
1. Carthage (32-6)
2. Millsaps (32-8)
3. UW-Whitewater (26-17)
4. Washington U. (25-10)
5. Wartburg (27-18)
6. Fontbonne (25-17)

New England Regional
Eastern Baseball Stadium, Mansfield, Conn.
1. Eastern Connecticut (35-6)
2. Southern Maine (35-7)
3. Trinity (Conn.) (29-5)
4. WPI (28-11)
5. Suffolk (30-9)
6. Westfield State (23-15)
7. Husson (31-12)
8. Babson (21-15)

Mid-Atlantic Regional
FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood, N.J.
1. Kean (34-9)
2. Keystone (37-4)
3. Montclair State (26-17)
4. Penn State-Behrend (31-11)
5. TCNJ (24-16-1)
6. Elizabethtown (27-13)
7. Alvernia (26-15)
8. Penn State-Berks (21-20-1)

West Regional
Jim Wright Stadium, McMinnville, Ore.
1. Pomona-Pitzer (35-5)
2. Texas-Tyler (38-10)
3. Cal Lutheran 31-9)
4. George Fox (33-9)
5. Chapman (26-14)
6. Hendrix (22-21)

South Regional
Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, Salisbury, Md.
1. Salisbury (37-6)
2. Shenandoah (28-6)
3. N.C. Wesleyan (27-19)
4. Christopher Newport (24-11-2)
5. Washington and Jefferson (33-12)
6. York (Pa.) (27-14)
7. Johns Hopkins (24-14)
8. Washington and Lee (22-13)

New York Regional
Farmingdale State Baseball Complex, Farmingdale, N.Y.
1. Cortland State (30-12)
2. Ithaca (29-8)
3. RPI (31-9)
4. Farmingdale State (26-13)
5. Western New England (29-15)
6. Clarkson (21-19)

Midwest Regional
E.J. Schneider Field, Oshkosh, Wis.
1. St. Olaf (29-12)
2. St. Thomas (31-10)
3. St. Scholastica (35-5)
4. St. Norbert (23-13)
5. UW-Stevens Point (29-14)
6. Beloit (28-7)

Permalink | May 11, 2009

Oles streak past Tommies for MIAC title

St. Olaf celebrates a title sweep, accomplished in dominant fashion.

Photo by Ryan Coleman, D3sports.com

Ben Hughes and Alex Sommer each tossed complete game wins and Todd Mathison went a combined 7-for-10 with 10 RBIs as St. Olaf defeated St. Thomas 19-1 and 8-0 to win the MIAC playoffs and earn the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which will begin later this week. (Photos: Game 1, Game 2)

The NCAA appearance will be the Oles' third in the last four seasons and the 19th in school history. The team's MIAC playoffs title was the third (2003, 2006) in the ten-year history of the event. St. Thomas has won the other seven.

The Oles' championship marked only the second time, with St. Thomas in 2007, that a team has marched through the loser's bracket to win the event.

Hughes scattered eight hits in a complete game win in the first contest and Mathison hit a first-inning grand slam to lead the Oles to the win.

After scoring four in the first, the Oles tacked on another six in the second sparked by RBI doubles from Pat Wadzinski and Mathison.

St. Olaf had seven in the lineup with at least two hits paced by Erik Nelson (2-for-6, four RBIs), Nick Fuerst (2-for-4, three RBIs, four runs) and Tyler Jones (2-for-3, four runs).

In the second game, the Oles scored five in the second on six hits, started by a solo homer by Sam Baltes.

Mathison added his second homer of the day to lead off the ninth and finished the game as one of three Oles with three hits.

Wadzinski was 3-for-4, Tyler Jones 3-for-5 and Mathison 3-for-5 with two RBIs in the win, the Oles' 13th in their last 15 outings.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Clarkson right fielder Brady Torbitt was named Most Outstanding Player of the Liberty League tournament.

Photo by Matt Milless for D3sports.com

Clarkson claims first tournament bid

Junior right fielder Brady Torbitt went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three runs batted in to lead Clarkson to a 13-6 victory over No. 20 RPI in the Liberty League championship game, Sunday afternoon at RPI's Robison Field.

Selections for the 2009 NCAA Tournament will be announced early Monday morning. For the first time in program history, the Golden Knights earned the Liberty League's automatic bid and are now 21-19 on the season. Rensselaer, which is ranked second in the New York Region, is now 34-11 and is hoping for one of the 13 Pool C bids into this year's tournament.

Torbitt, who took home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors, batted .444 (8-for-18) for the Golden Knights (21-19). He added six runs scored and six RBI as Clarkson posted a 3-1 record in this year's championship.

Locked in a 6-6 tie after six innings, Golden Knights rookie David Kinney pushed the visitors ahead in the top of the seventh with Clarkson's third home run of the game, a two-run shot to right field.

The visitors took an 8-6 lead to the ninth. In the inning, Torbitt doubled to center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kinney. Junior Brett Peplowski followed with a single through the left side to score the runner and give the Knights a 9-6 lead. Junior Steve Magovney followed with a run-scoring single deep to left center field, making it a 10-6 advantage and the Golden Knights tacked on three more runs to close out the scoring.

Clarkson got things going early in the first inning as senior Matt Giordano blasted a home run to right center field. Red Hawks threatened in the bottom half of the inning, but could not answer until the second inning when junior Scott Robinson sent a two-run shot to deep right field for a 2-1 lead.

The Golden Knights rebounded in the top half of the third after a single and a hit batsmen put runners on first and second for senior Cale Giroux, who lined the ball into right field to tie the game at 2-2. Junior Matt Curry followed with a run-scoring double and Torbitt grounded out to second, scoring another run, to give the visitors at 4-2 lead.

Rensselaer cut the deficit in its half of the inning as junior left fielder Camden Mamigonian sent a long shot to the center field wall, driving in Patrick Reardon, for a 4-3 score.

After a quiet fourth inning, Torbitt added to the Clarkson advantage, pushing the score to 6-3 with a two-run homer over the right field wall. But it was Mamigonian in the bottom half of the fifth, who tied the game with a three-run home run for a 6-6 ballgame through five complete.

Reardon led the Red Hawks effort in the loss, going 5 for 5 with two runs scored. The junior catcher hit a tournament-best .555, going 11 for 20 with five runs scored, eight runs batted in and three doubles.

In addition to Torbitt and Giordano, fellow Golden Knights Austin Pitkin and Jerry Coleman were named to the nine-player All-Tournament Team. Sophomores Josh Brooks and Mike Cieszko along with Reardon and Mamigonian were chosen from Rensselaer, while Skidmore's Mike Jaffe rounded out this year's team.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Penn State-Behrend was one of seven teams with something to celebrate on Sunday. Which 19 teams will celebrate at-large bids?

Penn State-Behrend athletics photo

It's all over but the waiting

All of the tournaments are done, and we know 35 of the 54 teams which will play in the 2009 NCAA Division III baseball championships.

But 19 bids have yet to be awarded. The Salisbury Sea Gulls are secure in their position for one of the six Pool B bids, but OAC mates Otterbein and Marietta have to wait to see if they did enough this weekend to impress the selection committee. We should know late tonight or early tomorrow who made the 2009 NCAA D-III playoff.

The D3baseball.com braintrust pulled out its their worn and tattered handbook and made projections. Who we think will make the field?

On Sunday, St. Olaf came out of the loser's bracket to beat St. Thomas twice and did so in convincing fashion to win the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. The Oles (29-12) crushed the Tommies 19-1 and 8-0 to clinch the automatic bid. Clarkson (21-19) wore out RPI in the Liberty League, scoring two in the seventh and five in the ninth to break a 6-all tie and win the automatic bid 13-6. It's Clarkson's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. (Photo gallery.)

The defending national champions will have a restful evening after clinching the NESCAC automatic bid. Sean Killeen went deep twice to lead Trinity (Conn.) to a 7-3 win against Tufts on Sunday morning. The Bantams improved to 29-5 and locked in their chance to repeat as national champions.

Heidelberg won the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament title, batting around in the sixth inning to break up a Marietta no-hit bid and pull away to a 5-1 win. Keystone won its 24th consecutive game, rolling over Neumann 12-1 to clinch the Colonial States Athletic Conference. Penn State-Behrend punched its return ticket to the postseason, beating Penn State-Altoona 7-2 for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference crown.

Who will get the six Pool B and 13 Pool C bids? Join the debate on our message board.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Heidelberg tops Marietta in OAC

This is the second straight year Heidelberg captured the regular season and tournament title.

Heidelberg claimed both the OAC regular season and Tournament trophies following a 5-1 victory over Marietta. It is the second-consecutive year that Heidelberg has held a firm grip on both titles. Overall Heidelberg has won three OAC Tournament championships and four regular season titles, all of which have came under the guidance of 10th-year coach Matt Palm.

In the OAC Tournament, Heidelberg found itself in the championship game through the winner's bracket. Action at the tournament began for the Berg with a 13-3 three win over John Carroll on Thursday. A spot in the title game was earned with a 13-12 win over Otterbein on Friday.

Playoff Central: Who else is in the field? All 35 automatic bids have been decided!

Check back at D3baseball.com tonight for more analysis and a projected playoff field, including Pool B and Pool C bids, with the actual tournament field coming out early Monday morning.

The championship game began as a pitcher's duel between Heidelberg left-hander Williams and Marietta right-hander Jason Baumler. Both sides had a no-hitter through five innings of action and the game was tied at 1-1. In the third, Marietta's Chris Beatty drew a bases loaded walk to break the scoreless tie. Heidelberg answered with a run of its own in the top of the fourth courtesy of a errant throw to second by Marietta's catcher in an attempt to catch the Berg stealing. Lash stole third and went home on the error. Decker was safe at second.

The no-hitter was broke up in the sixth inning, as Heidelberg had two hits in the top half and Marietta picked up one in the bottom, but the seventh was the deciding inning for the eventual 'Berg victory. Heidelberg batted around in the inning and had six hits. Four runs were plated in the inning to bring the final margin of victory for Heidelberg to four at 5-1. Knocking in the eventual game-winning run was Keen.

Williams went 7.0 innings to improve to 5-0 on the year. He gave up just one hit and struck out three. Andy Lowe threw the final two innings and gave up just two hits and did not allow a run. He also struck out three, including two of the final three outs of the ballgame.

At the plate, Heidelberg finished with nine hits compared to three by Marietta. Decker and Grassley each finished 2-for-4, with a double apiece. Also picking up a hit was Wentworth, Keen, Biagio Boytim, Willie Brechun and L.B. Emrhein.

Heidelberg placed seven players on the all-tournament team led by Most Valuable Player second baseman Gar Keen. Joining Keen from the infield was short stop Jason Lash and catcher Steve Decker. Earning a spot from the outfield was left fielder Matt Grassley and center fielder Jeremy Wentworth. Rounding out the Berg honorees was pitchers David Paddock and Elvin Williams.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Killeen sends Bantams to playoffs

Senior co-captain Sean Killeen hit two home runs, including an eighth inning grand slam to give the Trinity (Conn.) Bantams a 7-3 victory over the Tufts Jumbos in the NESCAC championship finals this morning at Bobby Coombs Field. Trinity, ranked No. 6 in the nation, improves to 29-5 with their second consecutive NESCAC championship title, while the Jumbos fall to 19-19. With the win, the defending National Champion Trinity College Bantams earn an automatic bid to the 2009 Division III NCAA tournament.

Playoff Central: Who's in, plus links to remaining conference tournaments.

Tufts jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning behind three hits including two doubles before Trinity starter, Andrew Janiga, would settle in, allowing just two hits and one run over the next four innings of work. The Bantams trailed 3-0 when Janiga left the game in the sixth, but the offense would eventually heat up on a cold and windy day, giving the Bantams yet another clutch come-from behind win.

The Jumbos, who sent five different pitchers to the mound for no more than two innings apiece, were able to keep the Trinity offense off balance until the bottom of the sixth, when Ryan Piacentini took advantage of a dropped foul ball, and doubled to the wall before Kevin Mortimer would bring Piacentini home with a line drive single to center.

The Bantams, who left twelve runners on base, then got a 400-ft. center field solo home run from Killeen an inning later, one of his four hits and five RBI on the day, to cut the Tufts lead to 3-2. Killeen's five RBI and two home runs both tie a NESCAC championship tournament single-game record, each shared by three others.

Trinity, trailing 3-2 after seven, loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth after Kevin Collins reached on an error, Stephen Bernstorf singled, and Jack Abbott executed a perfect bunt down the third base line. Matt Sullivan walked to force in the tying run, setting the table for Killeen who delivered in a big way, as the catcher muscled a grand-slam home run through a stiff breeze down the left field line to give the Bantams a 7-3 lead.

Connor O'Sullivan Pierce, who relieved Janiga in the sixth, found himself in a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, after David Orlowitz, David Leresche and Nate Bankoff reached base to put the tying run at the plate for the Jumbos with just one out. O'Sullivan-Pierce, who was a victim of two errors in the inning, escaped the jam unscathed as the Bantams clinched their third NESCAC Championship in school history, a league record.

O'Sullivan-Pierce pitched four strong innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three for the win. Janiga and O'Sullivan-Pierce overcame eight Trinity errors in the field to allow just one earned run and two unearned runs combined. Tufts starter Mike Stefaniak, Derek Miller and Chris DeGoti combined for five shutout innings and five strikeouts to highlight the Jumbos pitching staff.

Junior James Wood reached base four times for the Bantams. Chase Rose and Sam Sager collected two hits apiece to lead the Jumbos offensively.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Keystone captures crown

Keystone was picked to finish second this season in the CSAC.

After having to wait an extra day to play the championship game of the 2009 CSAC Baseball Championship, the Keystone Giants did what they have done all season long, defeat a school from the Colonial States Athletic Conference.

The Giants, who are ranked 9th in the Top 25, scored early and then added to their lead throughout the game as Keystone downed Neumann 12-1 to take the CSAC title.

The victory, the 24th straight for the Giants, comes the CSAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships. The team will learn which regional they will be playing in when the NCAA releases the full field either Sunday night or Monday morning.

Keystone set the tone early with two runs in the in the first. Ray Jackson led off with a walk. stole second and advanced to third on an overthrow. He came around to score on Kyle Conrad's triple, with Conrad scoring on a Ben Fish sacrifice fly.

The Giants added two more in the third when Drew Boandl led off with a home run and Eric Groff scored on a Smyth double.

A five run seventh put things out of reach as Boandl walked and scored on an error and then was followed by a two run single by Fish. Reese capped the inning with an RBI single. Fish would add another RBI single in the eight, as the Giants added two unearned runs to close out the scoring.

Brett Repard went the distance for Keystone, allowing five hits and one unearned run. Repard struck out seven as the senior moved to 9-0 on the year.

Fish was the big run producer for Keystone, as the senior drove in four with a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly, while also scoring twice. Ryan Smyth collected two hits, including a double.

Keystone shortstop Esteban Meletiche was named as the MVP of the championship tournament. Meletiche went 8-11 with two home runs and two doubles. He also knocked in seven and scored six runs.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Behrend is playoff bound

Penn State Behrend finished off Penn State Altoona with a 7-2 win in the 2009 AMCC Baseball Championship on Sunday, May 10 to claim back-to-back conference titles. With the championship, Penn State Behrend earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will compete at a region to be determined.

Penn State Behrend entered the day needing one win on its home field to clinch the title, while Altoona faced the daunting task of having to take two in a row from the Behrend Lions. Starting pitchers Fran Haus for Penn State Behrend, and Penn State Altoona's Kevin Obermeier looked solid early as both pitchers got through the first two innings without giving up a run.

In the bottom of the third, Jon Gray led off and slapped a ball to the rightside of the infield, getting on base by an error. He stole second where he remained until David Miller singled him in for the first score of the game, putting Penn State Behrend up 1-0.

Altoona bounced back to grab a lead in the top of the fourth inning. The visitors loaded the bases with one out and RJ Barnard scored on an error to tie the game at 1-1. Tyler Stiffler followed with a single which scored Grady Luzier and Penn State Altoona climbed in front 2-1. Haus got a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the inning without any more damage.

The Penn State Behrend bats responded in the fifth inning as Miller and Dustin Dubensky were aboard with two outs when Geoff Lang singled both home for a 3-2 advantage.

In the sixth Rich Doyle led off with a single as Behrend loaded the bases with no outs. Doyle scored off Eddie Kessler's single and Harry Latta scored on a passed ball as Penn State Behrend boosted its lead to 5-2 after six innings.

Altoona had two runners aboard in the seventh before Haus got a groundball that turned into a key 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. Penn State Behrend added a sixth run in the seventh and made it 7-2 with a run in the eighth inning. Ben Cain pitched the final one and a third innings, getting a groundout for the final out, kicking off a jubilant pileup.

Haus was outstanding in getting the win for the Penn State Behrend Lions, pitching seven and two thirds innings with three strikeouts, scattering seven hits, with two runs, neither of them earned. Miller was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, while Lang was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Pointers make it five titles in a row

For the fifth straight season, UW-Stevens Point emerged victorious from the WIAC Tournament, defeating UW-Whitewater 11-1 in a run-shortened seven inning affair on Saturday afternoon. The win gives the Pointers the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, scheduled to begin May 13.

The Warhawks defeated the Pointers in the day's first game 3-2, forcing the decisive second game.

Play began on Saturday with the Pointers needing just one win to capture the conference title, but a late run by the Warhawks broke a 2-2 tie, giving Whitewater the game one victory and forcing a second game in the double-elimination tournament.

In game two, the Pointers jumped all over Warhawk pitching, as Sam Spurney hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first with two outs, Cody Koback added a solo shot in the second and Spurney again belted a three-run shot in the third, giving the Pointers the 7-1 lead.

Two more Pointer runs scored in the fourth and fifth innings, as Spurney drove in two more runs in the fourth on a two out single and Kyle Cummings drove in the final two Pointer runs in the fifth, again with two outs, to give the Pointers the 10-run edge.

Kyle Barry, who threw two innings in the Pointers win on Friday against the Warhawks picking up the save, threw seven innings in the decisive game on Saturday, allowing just three hits, striking out four. He surrendered just two walks, earning his sixth victory of the season.

Spurney finished the championship game with eight RBIs, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Warhakws Ben Versnik suffered the loss, his fourth of the season, lasting just one inning, surrendering the home run to Spurney. The Warhakws used five pitchers in game two, with none logging more than 1.2 innings.

Permalink | May 10, 2009

Notables pages: 1 ... 31 32 33 [34] 35 36 37 ... 99