|
| Frank Vance |
MARIETTA, Ohio – The College of Wooster recorded 11 hits and four walks, but could not push a run across as Washington & Jefferson College's Eddie Nogay spun an 8-0 shutout in an elimination game Thursday afternoon at the NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship regional, being hosted by Marietta College.
Wooster, which ends the season with a 27-18 overall record, left 13 runners on base, including nine between the second and fifth innings.
Billy Farrow legged out a leadoff double to open the second inning, and after a pair of two-out walks to Frank Vance and Jake Zeek, the Fighting Scots left the bases loaded. In the third, they put runners on the corners with one outs via back-to-back singles by John McClain and Eddie Reese to no avail.
After Washington & Jefferson (36-9) broke a scoreless tie with two runs during the top of the fourth, which included doubles from Ronny Peirish and Tyler Schultz, Wooster tried to answer, only to leave Vance, who had walked again, and Michael DeBord, who singled, standing on second and third with an inning-ending strikeout.
Two more base runners, Farrow on a single and Johnathan Ray via a hit by pitch, were left in the fifth, as the Scots were just unable to come up with the key hit. Overall, Wooster was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The Presidents tacked on an insurance run in the sixth, which began with a Josh Staniscia double, and then broke the game open with three during the seventh.
Steve Hagen started on the mound for the Scots, working 6.1 innings. Of his six runs allowed, three were earned, as the versatile sophomore closed his season with a 7-4 record and five saves, while Nogay improved to 7-0 via the rare 11-hit shutout. He induced Wooster into two double plays and struck out three.
Offensively, Vance reached in all four plate appearances with two singles and two walks, and also recording two hits for the Scots were McClain (2-for-5), Reese (2-for-4), and Farrow (2-for-5).
Peirish paced Washington & Jefferson, doubling twice as part of a 4-for-5, 3-RBI outing.