|
| Ryan Miner |
After outscoring opponents 39-11 over three games to win the North Coast Athletic Conference last week, The College of Wooster will play in the NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship as the Fighting Scots were awarded a No. 3 seed and placed in an eight-team regional to be hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology May 15-19. Action begins Wednesday, with Wooster slated to play sixth-seeded Thomas More College (29-14) at 4:30 p.m. EDT. The other six squads are top-seeded Manchester College (35-5-1), second-seeded Marietta College (29-12), fourth-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University (32-12), fifth-seeded Washington & Jefferson College (30-11), seventh-seeded Penn State Behrend (30-10), and eighth-seeded University of Mount Union (23-16). If the schedule goes as planned, the regional championship game will take place Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with the possibility of a second championship game on Sunday at noon. For live statistics, tournament updates, and much more information, go to http://www.rose-hulman.edu/athletics/baseball/2013-ncaa-mideast-regional.aspx.
There are eight regionals taking place across the country (four with six teams and four with eight for a total of 56 teams), and each champion will qualify for the double-elimination championship at Fox Cities Stadium near Appleton, Wis., May 24-28.
NCAA Tournament Notes: Wooster, making its 27th Div. III tourney appearance, owns a 57-56 all-time record (.504) in regional and national tournament games. The Scots only trail Eastern Connecticut State University (32), Ithaca College (35), and Marietta College (34) in total NCAA appearances.
Wooster, which has gone 20-19 (.513) over nine NCAA tourneys during the 2000s, has won five regional titles (1989, 1994, 1997, 2005, 2009). The Fighting Scots' top national finishes were second-place in both 1997 and 2009, and they finished third in 2005.
Against the 2013 NCAA Field: Wooster is well prepared to make a run in the tournament, having played eight non-conference games against teams that are in the NCAA Div. III Championship field. While the Scots were 3-5 in those games, several took place early in the season. In fact, five were during the spring break trip in Florida – a season-opening 15-10 setback to Marietta College, then an 8-7 win over Salem State University, a 3-0 shutout of then-No. 3 ranked Wheaton (Mass.) College, and 4-3 and 5-2 losses to Johns Hopkins University. During the northern part of the schedule, Wooster split at Case Western Reserve University, a 9-7 victory followed by a 5-4 defeat, and most recently, took a 9-5 loss at Marietta College.
Seed Talk: The only other time the Scots were seeded No. 3 at a regional, they had one of their best runs ever in the NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship. That came in 1997 when Wooster turned that seed into a regional championship (hosted by Marietta College), followed by its first run to the national championship game, eventually falling to the University of Southern Maine, 15-1.
Last spring, the Scots were awarded a No. 6 seed, the only time they've been below a No. 4 since seedings began being published by the NCAA in 1996. From 2004-07, Wooster was a No. 1 at four-straight regionals, and from 2008-10, it was No. 2 three consecutive years. The Scots were also the top seed in 1998 and 2002, and a No. 4 in 1999.
Return to Rose-Hulman: While nobody on today's current roster has played a game at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Art Nehf Field, this location stirs up some memories, mostly good, for Wooster fans as its the fourth time the program has visited here for a regional. The Scots swept through four games for the 2005 regional championship, but they followed with a two-and-out in 2006. And in 2008, Wooster split four games, highlighted by Matthew Johnson's walk-off grand slam during the 13th inning to beat Rose-Hulman 11-8. So in total, the Scots are 6-4 in NCAA regional games played at Terre Haute, Ind.
Pettorini One of Eight in NCAA Div. III With 1,000 Wins: With more than 1,000 wins (1,034), Tim Pettorini is the driving force behind a program that is regarded as one of the finest across NCAA Div. III. Pettorini, now in his 32nd year as a head coach, all at Wooster, reached the 1,000 milestone on May 4, 2012, and is now one of eight in Div. III to have hit it. In addition to all the victories, Pettorini has a league-leading 15 North Coast Athletic Conference championships to his credit and five NCAA regional crowns.
NCAC Tournament Recap: Wooster won its 15th NCAC championship in decisive fashion, winning its three tournament games by a cumulative 39-11.
On May 9, the Scots answered Oberlin College's three-run fourth with three of their own in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead at 5-3, and later broke it open courtesy of a four-run seventh en route to the 11-3 victory in the tourney's opening game. After the Yeomen gained a 3-2 lead, Wooster's first three hitters of the fourth all singled, with Ryan Miner's base knock into the left-center gap plating both Frank Vance and Craig Day as it quickly went back ahead. Miner scored shortly thereafter on a Jarrod Mancine one-out single, part of the latter's 4-for-4 performance. It remained 5-3 until the seventh when Eddie Reese highlighted a four-run inning via an RBI double. The Scots received another quality start from Keenan White, with the three runs all coming across on a homer, the only damage through his seven innings (four hits allowed). Complementing Mancine were Reese (three RBI) and Miner (2-for-4, two RBI).
Also on May 9, Wooster used a couple of big early innings, a five-run third and a three-run fourth, to cruise past Allegheny College by a 10-2 count in the winners' bracket game. Tied at one going into the third, Jarrod Mancine legged out an infield single, John McLain was hit by a pitch, and after a force out, the Scots strung together three run-producing hits – Zac Mathie and Cal Thomay singles and Frank Vance's double to deep right. Ryan Miner contributed an RBI two-bagger down the line in left before the inning was complete to make it 6-1. The fourth started similarly with Mancine and McLain reaching via a walk and single, and it was Mathie who brought them in via a deep double to centerfield. Mathie scored on another Thomay RBI base knock, and that was more than enough for Steve Hagen. The only run the Wooster starter allowed was unearned as Allegheny managed just five hits off of him through six innings. Mathie paced the Scots in their second game, going 3-for-5 with four RBI.
On May 10, Wooster broke a 2-2 deadlock in the sixth with an eight-run inning and rolled to an 18-6 win over Allegheny for its second consecutive NCAC championship. The two teams had played even until with one out in that sixth inning, the Scots' Jarrod Mancine took a hit by pitch, the first of 10 consecutive batters to reach base. John McLain followed by drilling a double high off the wall in left field, and later, the key at bat came when Zac Mathie delivered a bases-loaded, one-out single to plate them as Wooster took a lead (4-2) that it would not relinquish. That's because the Scots' offense was just getting started. A four-pitch walk to Cal Thomay ensued and Frank Vance sent a two-run double into the corner in right field to push the margin to 6-2. Next, Craig Day hit a sinking liner into center for two more runs, Ryan Miner reached via an error, and Bryan Miller shot a double that reached the wall in left as two more touched home, and all of the sudden it was a 10-2 game. Keenan White picked up yet another win, improving to 12-0. It was his first of the year in a relief role, as he went just 1.1 innings.
All-Tournament Team: Junior outfielder Jarrod Mancine landed the Most Valuable Player award of the North Coast Atheltic Conference Tournament after reaching base successfully in 11-of-15 plate appearances. He batted 6-for-10, plus drew four walks and a hit by pitch.
Also earning spots on the all-tourney team for the Scots were Zac Mathie (.357, two doubles, seven RBI), Cal Thomay (.455, one double, three RBI), Frank Vance (.583, two doubles, six RBI), and Keenan White (2-0 in two appearances).
This and That: Wooster's three-member senior class of outfielder Ryan Miner, outfielder/DH Johnathan Ray, and pitcher Keenan White have won three NCAC championships and compiled a 115-54 record (.680) ... Keenan White leads NCAA Div. III in wins with his perfect 12-0 record, and he needs just one more to equal the school record for a single-season, held by current assistant coach Justin McDowell (13 in 2009) and Brett Beech (13 in 1994) ... Eddie Reese needs one more double to become the 10th with 20 in a season, and he's six shy of Travis Snyder's record of 25 in 1997 ... Steve Hagen became the first pitcher in NCAA Div. III to go 14.0 innings in a single-game on April 21 when he no-hit Oberlin from the fourth to the 13th inning before taking a tough-luck 3-1 loss in the 14th ... Three of the regional MVP's when the Scots won have been pitchers – Justin McDowell in 2009, Drew Binkowski in 1997, and Matt Rodgers in 1994 – while the others were shortstop Luke Ullman in 2005 and right fielder Brent Bizyak in 1989.