SUNY Cortland Athletics

2011 NCAA DIVISION III BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Auburn (NY) Regional – Friday, May 20, 2011

Game nine: #5 Eastern Connecticut State University 6, #7 Clarkson University (NY) 1 (Clarkson eliminated)

Recap by Mark Coley

AUBURN, NY – Eastern Connecticut State University got all the scoring that it needed in the top of the fifth inning with four runs on three hits, while starting pitcher Chris Wojick (Uncasville, CT/Montville) and reliever Evan Chamberlain (Amston, CT/RHAM) struck out four batters apiece without allowing an earned run en route to a 6-1 triumph over Clarkson University in an elimination game of the 2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Auburn (NY) Regional at Falcon Park, co-hosted by SUNY Cortland and the Auburn Doubledays.

The fourth-seeded Warriors (34-12), who dropped their first game of the tournament earlier this morning in a completion of a suspended game, will face the winner of the next game between The College at Brockport and Farmingdale State College in the final game of the night. However, should Farmingdale come away victorious, the final game will turn into the opening game on Saturday, May 21. NCAA rules mandate that a team not play three games in one day (NOTE: The resumption of the suspended game this morning by Eastern Connecticut State does not count).

The seventh seeded Golden Knights, the Liberty League tournament champion making their second NCAA tournament appearance in three years, ends their season with a 20-19 record.

With both teams going scoreless through the first four innings, Eastern Connecticut State opened the top of the fifth with a walk by sophomore third baseman Joe Balowski (Berlin, CT). After a sacrifice bunt moved Balowski to second, freshman shortstop Danny O’Connell (Braintree, MA) drove in the run with a single up the middle.

The Warriors registered the second out on a grounder to second base (moving O’Connell to second) before senior outfielder Shane Kingsley (Beacon Falls, CT/Woodland Regional) drew a walk, forcing Clarkson to make a pitching change, bringing in sophomore Anthony Farrell (Topsham, ME/Mount Arat) for senior starter Kyle Moldoff (Nassau, NY/Columbia).

A wild pitch moved O’Connell to third before senior left fielder Robert Perry (Manchester, CT) drove in two runs on a triple to center field, resulting in another pitching change by the Golden Knights, brining in senior Vincent Baldwin (Catskill, NY). Senior designated hitter Jim Schult (Wappingers Falls/John Jay Sr.) ended the scoring parade with a single to right center, scoring Perry.

Kingsley, Perry, and Schult, the first three batters in the lineup for Eastern Connecticut State, proved effective for the second straight game, combining to go 7-for-12 (.583 batting avg.) with four runs batted in and three runs scored. Perry, who also drove in one of the team’s two runs in the ninth (double to left centerfield) was the top hitter of the trio, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored.

Wojick (6-1) picked up the victory, allowing six hits and four walks in 5.1 innings. Chamberlain pitched the final three and two-third innings in relief for his fourth save of the year, yielding two hits, an unearned run, and two walks.

Shortstop Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY, 2-for-4) and second baseman Justin McInerney (Grand Island, NY, 2-for-5) were the lone players with multiple hits for Clarkson, with McInerney scoring the team’s lone run (unearned) on a dropped fly ball in the outfield. Moldoff (1-5) was charged with the loss, giving up three hits, three runs, and two walks while striking out two batters in four and two-third innings.