Scots Break Single-Game Triples Record in Regular Season Finale

The College of Wooster baseball team wrapped up the regular season with another split at Case Western Reserve University's Nobby's Ballpark on Sunday afternoon. The Fighting Scots took game one 10-7 before falling to the Spartans 21-7 in the weekend finale.

Sunday's opener featured Wooster (24-11) jumping out to a big lead, then holding off CWRU (20-10) down the stretch. The Scots took a commanding 9-0 lead behind a six-run fourth. In that frame, senior second baseman Gabe Sherman singled, stole second, and scored on sophomore third baseman Dean Brown's knock up the middle. After Wooster loaded the bases, thanks to sophomore catcher Riley McErlean's single and junior center fielder Ben Gbur's walk, junior right fielder Ben Hines ripped a two-run single to left that made it 4-0. Next, junior shortstop Tyler Chumita laced an RBI single up the middle, and Hines scored the final run of the frame on a CWRU throwing error.

Chumita's two-run opposite field double upped the Scots' lead to 9-0 in the sixth. Prior to that, junior designated hitter Alex Gasper led off the frame with a double and Hines reached via a two-out walk.

CWRU stormed back with a six-run seventh to close within 9-6. Junior Colin Springer eventually got the Scots out of the jam before going on to work the eighth and ninth en route to collecting his fourth save of the year. The Scots got one back in the eighth on Gbur's RBI triple. Gasper, who led off the inning with an infield single, scored on the play.

Gasper turned in a 3-for-4 game with two runs scored, while Chumita finished 2-for-5 with a team-high three RBI. Gbur and McErlean rounded out the Scots with multi-hit games, as did Hines in the RBI department.

Senior Steve Spidell walked the tightrope and didn't break with six innings of shutout ball. The right-hander struck out three and received plenty of support defensively. In the first, junior left fielder Dominic Stilliana threw out Zack Carinci at third base, while in the sixth, a leadoff single was erased, as the Scots went around the horn for an inning-ending double play.

Trey Haley went 2-for-5 with three RBI out of the leadoff spot for CWRU. Reece Marley (2-2) took the loss after allowing seven runs (five earned) on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

While the score didn't go Wooster's way in the weekend finale, the Scots did set a new single-game program record with five triples. The old mark of four was set against Oberlin College on May 5, 1991, and the Scots matched that against Hiram College on April 24, 2010, with all four of those coming in the same inning. Wooster's five three-baggers also tied the North Coast Athletic Conference mark, and it's the third all-time five-triple game in league history.

Three of the triples came during Wooster's five-run second. Gasper started the inning with a three-bagger, and three batters later, Brown was flying around the bases on his triple to center. Gbur followed Brown with a triple of his own, while Chumita's RBI double made it a 6-5 game.

Gbur tripled to lead off the seventh, and of note, that marked the 17th time in program history Wooster's had a batter with two triples in a game. Wooster great Michael Wielansky was the most recent Scot to do so prior to Sunday, with his two-triple game coming against Mount Saint Mary College (N.Y.) on May 13, 2017. In fact, Gbur's not the only Scot in the dugout this spring with a two-triple game on the resume, as current assistant coach Matthew Johnson had a pair against LaGrange College on March 7, 2010.

First-year infielder Eli Westrick broke the record with his one-out triple in the ninth.

Wooster never led in the nightcap, as CWRU scored six in the first, then seized control again with a four-run fifth before putting the game out of reach in the seventh.

Chumita, Gbur, and Stilliana combined for six of Wooster's 12 hits. Seven pitchers worked in the finale, with sophomore Owen Barnard (0-2) taking the loss.

Outfielder Matthew DuBois went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs out of the nine-hole, while Benjamin Stawicki went 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs out of the two-hole. Willem Bouman (1-0) allowed one run on four hits in six innings of relief to pick up the win.

Next, Wooster hosts Denison University (21-10) in the NCAC Championship Series. The best-of-three series starts at noon on Thursday, May 20, with game two to start approximately 30 minutes upon the completion of game one. If necessary, game three is slated to take place at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 21.