Michael Wielansky

WOOSTER, Ohio – A late-inning comeback attempt by The College of Wooster fell a little bit short, as the Fighting Scots trimmed a 10-1 deficit down to three only to see the rally end there in a 10-7 loss to fellow northeast Ohio foe John Carroll University on Thursday at a cool, cloudy Art Murray Field.

Wooster (22-9), which entered the day riding an eight-game winning streak, scored once during both the fifth and sixth innings, then put two runs on the board in both the seventh and eighth to put pressure on John Carroll (17-17), which once led by nine.

The comeback bid began with Michael Wielansky's fifth-inning RBI triple to the wall in right field, and in the sixth, the Scots loaded the bases with no outs, but could only manage one run via a Chris Fafalios sacrifice fly.

Wielansky delivered again during the seventh inning, driving a two-run homer down the left-field line, as Wooster crept to within 10-5.

In the eighth, it was Jake Fling with the big hit as he sent a two-out triple to the wall in right to score Kenny Reckart, who had singled, and pinch runner Jacob Stuursma.

Jamie Lackner led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off the diving shortstop's glove, however, that was the last of the Scots' rally. Mark Pisanello got the next three hitters to complete a four-out save and preserve the win for starter Carter Semancik (1-0), who went the first five innings.

Ultimately, Wooster was done in by a poor start to the game. The Blue Streaks' offense steadily produced early on with two runs in the second, three in the third, which featured a David Crowley triple, one in the fourth, and four in the fifth.

The Scots used eight different pitchers in the mid-week game, with James Usher being the most effective as he totaled 2.0 scoreless innings to keep the game within striking distance.

Wielansky went 3-for-5 with three RBI to pace Wooster's offense, while Joey Gilmore also had three hits (3-for-4).

This weekend, Wooster will play a four-game North Coast Athletic Conference East Division series at Oberlin College (13-20, 5-7 NCAC East), starting with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.