Walk-Off Win Lead Highlight of Final Week of Spring Trip

DAVENPORT, Florida – The College of Wooster baseball team walked off Keystone College on Monday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational for the first of two wins over teams which made the 2022 NCAA Div. III Regional Tournament, but those were the Fighting Scots lone wins during a 2-4 week. Wooster's week started with a 4-3 win over Keystone College on Monday, then the Scots fell to then-10th-ranked Johns Hopkins University 5-4. Wooster bounced back with a 7-3 win over Lawrence University on Wednesday before falling 12-8 to Colby College. Washington & Jefferson College swept Wooster 5-4 and 8-1 on Friday.

Wooster (5-8), which played four games on the week against 2022 NCAA participants, entered the bottom of the ninth inning tied at three with Keystone. Senior left fielder Jack Whitehouse singled to start the inning and swiped second to move into scoring position. Whitehouse advanced to third base on junior second baseman Eli Westrick's fly out to right field. Two batters later, senior first baseman Dane Camphausen deposited the walk-off single into right center.

Keystone's Jason Thomas darted home on a wild pitch for the tying run in the top of the ninth inning. Wooster elected to intentionally walk Giovanni Diaz to load the bases, and that decision worked to perfection when senior left-hander Christian Johnston (1-0) got Griffin Yastremski to roll a grounder to Camphausen, who alertly went home with the ball to start a 3-2-3 double play. First-year catcher Colin Leslie came up with the chase pitch that Julio Acosta went after for strike three and threw down to Camphausen in time to get the Scots out of the jam.

Wooster's four-run eighth broke a 3-3 tie with Lawrence on Wednesday. Sophomore shortstop Nick Pett's two-run single up the middle was the go-ahead knock, then Westrick tacked on an insurance run with a double to right field. First-year third baseman Ryan Kramer's swinging bunt-turned-single brought in first-year center fielder John Panstares, who reached on a walk. Johnston struck out the side in the bottom of the frame, while senior Ethan Samangy (1-0) fired 2 1/3 innings of shutout baseball in support of first-year starter Devin Anthony.

Junior third baseman Grant Mitchell, Pett, and senior right fielder Dean Brown all had fifth-inning RBI singles against Johns Hopkins, which enabled Wooster to take a 4-0 lead. The Blue Jays swooped back into the game with a three-spot in the sixth, then took the lead on Dillon Souvignier's RBI single in the ninth inning. Cole Jefferson (1-0) retired Wooster in order in the bottom of the ninth. Sophomore Alex Gerdenich (0-2) took the loss.

Colby had Wooster trying to catch up from the get-go with a run in the first inning and a five-run second inning. Westrick and Camphausen played well for the Scots, combining for five of Wooster's 11 hits. Camphausen had four RBI and hit his third homer of the spring trip in the sixth inning. First-year Logan Creamer fell to 0-2 after allowing six runs (three earned) on three hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Panstares led off the eighth inning - the first inning of extras in the RussMatt's mandated seven-inning doubleheaders if playing the same team in both games - of Friday's first game with Washington & Jefferson with a single and stole base before scoring on Westrick's two-out single. That gave Wooster a 4-3 lead. Washington & Jefferson rallied with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, with Sam Schuster getting on for the winning run with a single up the middle. Connor Helm ripped the walk-off, two-run single down the left field line for the 5-4 win. Johnston (1-1) took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in two innings.

The Presidents' seven-run second inning was too much to overcome in the spring trip finale, especially with two-time All-American utility ace Tyler Horvat toeing the rubber. Horvat allowed one run on three hits with six strikeouts in his five innings of work, and a pair of relievers kept the Scots hitless in the final two frames. Brown (0-2) allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Westrick stayed hot all week, finishing .423 (11-of-26) with five runs scored, four doubles, and three RBI. Panstares went 6-of-16 (.375) in five starts with a team-leading eight runs scored. Camphausen's seven RBI led all Wooster players, and he was one of five Scots with at least five base knocks on the week.

Wooster returns to action with a 4 p.m. home game against John Carroll University (10-6) on Wednesday, March 29.