GRAND CHUTE, WIS. – Drew Butler's three-run homer highlighted a five-run sixth inning that gave Trinity University the lead and the nationally third-ranked Tigers held off top-ranked Cortland, 9-7, in a winner's bracket game of the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series.
Trinity (41-7) advances to the finals of the "Pool A" four-team bracket at the Series and will play Monday needing one win in two tries to move into the best-of-three national championship series. Cortland (42-7) will play fourth-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse in an elimination game Sunday night at a time to determined (likely around 9 p.m. Central/10 p.m Eastern).
Full Game Replay
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Cortland's game versus Trinity was originally scheduled for a 10 a.m. start, but was delayed just more than two hours due to rain. The game was also halted for 57 minutes in the bottom of the second and did not end until about 4:20 p.m. The Cortland/UW-La Crosse game will follow a Pool B winner's bracket game between Keystone and La Roche that started at 5 p.m.
Trinity took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second on a Nicholas Jewett double, a Jose Santos two-run homer and, later in the inning, a Colin Serkowski RBI single.
Cortland had the bases loaded with one out in the second after the delay but couldn't score. The Red Dragons, however, grabbed the lead with a five-run fourth inning.
Austin Clock (Niskayuna),
Patrick Schetter (Beacon) and
Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) led off the inning with singles, the last of which drove in a run. Following a
Connor Griffin (Cortland) sac bunt,
Nick Hart (Fredonia) hit a two-run single to right center to tie the game at 3-3.
Paul Dondero (East Islip) greeted reliever Ian Hussian with an RBI double to right center. Dondero went to third on a
Steven Figueroa (Bronx/St. Raymond's) single and eventually scored on a passed ball to give Cortland a 5-3 lead.
Cortland starter
Tanner Whiteman (Cazenovia) held the Tigers scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, but in the sixth he allowed a leadoff infield single and, with two outs, hit two batters to load the bases. Jeremy Wolf hit a two-run single to tie the game.
Jesse Winters (South Glens Falls/Saratoga Central Catholic) relieved Whiteman and Butler hit his three-run round-tripper to put Trinity ahead 8-5.
Winters settled down and kept Trinity off the board in the seventh and eighth, and in the bottom of the eighth Cortland scored twice to close its deficit to one. Hart was hit by a pitch and Dondero hit an RBI double to left center. Dondero eventually scored from third on a two-out
Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) RBI single.
Trinity tacked on a key insurance run in the top of the ninth. Jewett singled and was safe at second on an error on a Santos bunt. Andrew Waters bunted the runners to second and third and, after an intentional walk, Brody Fehmel hit a sac fly to center to score Jewett.
Cortland opened the bottom of the ninth with a runner as Teague was hit by a pitch, but reliever Andrew Hoffman entered and induced a double play grounder and a lineout to end the game.
Chris Tate earned the win as Trinity's second reliever. Now 5-0, he allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in four and two thirds innings. Michael Walker started and gave up eight hits and four runs in three and a third innings with one walk and one strikeout.
Whiteman dropped his first decision of the year to fall to 8-1. He allowed eight hits and seven runs with two walks and five strikeouts in five and two thirds innings. Winter tossed two and two thirds frames and gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits with a strikeout and two walks.
Dondero finished 3-for-4 with three doubles, was hit by a pitch, drove in two runs and scored twice. He tied an NCAA Division III record for doubles in a game accomplished by five other players, most recently in 2004. Teague was 2-for-3 with an RBI and was hit by pitches twice, Schetter went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Ziemendorf was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Hart singled, was hit by a pitch, drove in two runs and scored twice.
Jewett paced the Tigers by going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Santos ended 2-for-5 with a homer, double and two RBI and Carter McEachern was 2-for-4 with a walk.
