Justin McDowell

Tim Pettorini became the eighth coach in NCAA Div. III history to win 900 games on Sunday, doing so when his College of Wooster squad swept North Coast Athletic Conference East Division foe Hiram College by scores of 10-4 and 3-0 at Fishel Field in Hiram, Ohio.

Sunday's two victories elevate Pettorini's career record to 901-325-6 (.734), which has been compiled entirely at Wooster over the last 28 seasons. He is now one of five active Div. III coaches with 900-plus wins and he ranks seventh in winning percentage among Div. III coaches all-time.

Wooster (24-4, 12-0 NCAC East), which also swept Hiram (1-20, 0-10 NCAC East) on Saturday, scored three times in the top of the first inning of Sunday's opener, and all three runs came after there were two outs and the bases empty. The rally consisted of a Stu Beath (St. Louis, Mo. / Avon Old Farms – Conn.) single, a Matt Groezinger (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) RBI double, a Matthew Johnson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) RBI base knock, and a Matthew Pierce (Oklahoma City, Okla. / Casady School) RBI two-bagger.

Pierce added a solo home run during the third to put the Scots ahead 4-0, however, the Terriers clawed back into it with a three-spot in the bottom of that frame.

Wooster would hold off Hiram's comeback bid, thanks to two runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth. Johnson and Pierce earned back-to-back walks to leadoff the fifth and both came around to score, while in the sixth, Beath singled home Sean Kapren (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Twp.), who had a four-hit game (4-for-5), and the Johnson-Pierce duo would each record an RBI later.

On the mound, Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) overcame Hiram's three-run third to improve to 5-0 on the year. Overall, he went the first six innings, yielding just the three runs on 11 hits while striking out six to up his team-leading total to 46 in that category.


The story of game two was the pitching of the Scots' Justin McDowell (Willard, Ohio / Willard) as he threw the first complete-game shutout of his career.

The sophomore right-hander set down the first 10 batters he faced, while his offense spotted him three runs during that same stretch. In the first inning, Wooster tallied a run when Karpen stroked a leadoff double and Luke Sutton (Galion, Ohio / Galion) singled him home, and in the third, Sutton and Johnson would score on a two-out double off the bat of Pierce.

McDowell wound up giving up just five hits and a walk, to go with 11 strikeouts – a career-best. He's now 4-1 and leads the Scots' talented staff of pitchers with a 2.34 ERA.

Offensively, Karpen posted his second consecutive five-hit day, finishing 5-for-8 with a double and a stolen base over the two games after going 5-for-9 on Saturday. Also for Wooster, Johnson was 3-for-7 with four runs scored and two RBI and both Beath and Pierce went 3-for-6, with Pierce collecting five RBI.

Wooster does not play again until Friday and Saturday when it will look to close out its ninth-straight divisional title at Kenyon College (17-11, 8-0 NCAC East). The two teams will play a pair of doubleheaders each afternoon.