Matt Groezinger lines a single against Wabash.

WOOSTER, Ohio – Justin McDowell (Willard, Ohio / Willard) kept Wabash College's bats quiet for the second day in a row and Zack Vesco (Pickerington, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) came up with the key hit, lining a two-out, two-run single to centerfield in the bottom of the seventh to give The College of Wooster a 5-4 lead and it went on to a 6-4 win in the deciding game of a North Coast Athletic Conference semifinal series at Art Murray Field Sunday.

Wooster (33-8) will now play Kenyon College (24-19), which upended two-time defending NCAC champion Ohio Wesleyan University in the other semi, for the championship. It will be another best-of-three series, scheduled for this Thursday and Friday at Carleton Davidson Stadium in Springfield, Ohio.

Wabash (23-19) led for the better part of Sunday's game, taking a 4-2 advantage into the seventh. Sean Karpen (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Township) cut the lead in half with a one-out solo shot to left – his sixth home run in the last nine games.

Luke Sutton (Galion, Ohio / Galion) followed with a double, but the next batter popped up for the second out. Matt Groezinger (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) drew a walk and then a key play occured when Matthew Pierce (Oklahoma City, Okla. / Casady School) hit a grounder to the shortstop's right and Groezinger beat out the throw to second to keep the inning alive.

A long battle between Vesco and the Little Giant pitcher ensued, with the Fighting Scot freshman eventually hitting a sharp ball up the middle that scored Sutton and Groezinger.

Next, Shane Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) found a hole through the left side for an insurance run, as Pierce came across home plate.

McDowell, who had started and gone five innings of game two of the series and entered Sunday's affair in the top of the fourth, remained on the mound. The sophomore right-hander worked a perfect eight inning, and after a quiet bottom of the eighth for Wooster, he gave up a leadoff single in the ninth. McDowell got  the next two on a foul out and strikeout, before giving way to Mark Miller (Convoy, Ohio / Crestview).

Miller fell behind 3-0 to Wabash's No. 9 hitter, but came back to make the count full and then forced him into a soft grounder down the first base line. Miller scooped it and tagged the batter himself for the final out.

Prior to the seventh, the Scots had taken a quick 1-0 lead in the first when Karpen opened with a walk, stole second base, and was singled home by Sutton.

The Little Giants then evened things in the second and took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third before Sutton sent one over the fence in right-center for his third home run of the season, all occurring over the last four games.

Wabash extended its lead to two, scratching out a run against McDowell in the fourth, but that would be the Little Giants' last tally. In fact, they did not get another runner to second base.

McDowell collected his second win in as many days to improve to 9-2 overall. Overall, he combined for 10.2 innings pitched during the two games, including 5.2 Sunday when he allowed one run on three hits and struck out four. Miller notched his third save of the season and 24th of his career.

Sutton highlighted Wooster's offense with a 3-for-5, two-RBI outing, while Matt Dodaro (2-for-4) and David Seibel (2-for-3) each contributed two hits to Wabash's cause.

Game times for the NCAC Tournament championship series will be announced on Monday.