CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – Senior left fielder Dominic Stilliana's third-inning leadoff home run gave The College of Wooster baseball team a lead that was not relinquished, as the Fighting Scots warded off elimination at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium with a 5-3 win over DePauw University on Friday evening.
With the win, Wooster (29-13) is set for a rematch with 19th-ranked Denison University (32-8), which beat the Scots 11-3 in Friday's opening game. First pitch of Sunday's championship round is set for 11 a.m. with the if-necessary game should Wooster win game one set for approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 11 a.m. game.
Stilliana drilled a first-pitch Danny Glimco offering over the left field wall for his third home run of the year, and that had Wooster's offense rolling. The homer, which marked Wooster's first hit of the elimination game, was followed by a single through the left side by senior center fielder Ben Gbur and a single up the middle by senior right fielder Ben Hines. Senior shortstop Tyler Chumita knocked in Gbur with an RBI groundout, and junior designated hitter Dean Brown roped a double over the outstretched glove of Tiger (22-17) left fielder Danny Sheehan, with the run upping the Scots' lead to 3-0.
DePauw clawed back into things with a run in the fourth and fifth inning, but Wooster was able to mitigate the damage. Fourteen Tigers were stranded on the bases, including three in the fourth and three more in the sixth. Junior Ethan Samangy rescued the Scots in the fourth by getting second baseman Cameron Macon to fly out to Hines with the bases loaded, while in the sixth, junior first baseman Dane Camphausen navigated a foul ball at the railing with ease, then Chumita beat out Kyle Callahan in a foot race for a force out at second base.
Chumita's RBI single up the middle plated a key insurance run in the seventh inning. The RBI marked Chumita's 76th of the year, moving him into sole possession of second-place on the storied program's single-season leaderboard, and within one of matching Wooster legend Rick Sforzo's 36-year-old school record. Gbur, who doubled to left center, scored on the play.
Gbur closed out the Tigers with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, giving him save two in as many nights. First-year Nick Pett was the most efficient relief pitcher on the night with two innings of one-hit, one-run ball.
Gbur had two of Wooster's seven hits and scored two of the runs.
Nick Nelson reached base safely all five times up to the dish for DePauw, while EJ White kept his ballclub in it with 4 2/3 innings of solid relief work. The Tigers' right-hander allowed one run on three hits.
Earlier in the day, 10 of the Big Red's 11 runs came with two outs, starting with second baseman Josh Bohn's two-run homer down the left field line that tied the score at two in the second inning. Bohn homered again, with a solo blast in the eighth inning going in the books as the final two-out run of the game.
Denison's four-run seventh inning put the game out of reach. Left fielder Danny Alvarez upped the Big Red lead to 10-3 with a two-out, two-run single to left field.
Sophomore second baseman Eli Westrick hustled for a leadoff double in the second inning against Denison. The right-hander's blooper down the right field line fell between three Big Red fielders, and with right fielder Jake Welsch playing deep due to the fast turf conditions, Westrick was able to motor on to second base. Camphausen's single to left center brought in Westrick, and later Stilliana plated Pett on a two-out single.
Senior catcher Michael Thomas drilled a two-out solo homer in the seventh inning for his sixth longball of the year. That accounted for the Scots' third run in Friday's opening game.
Senior Mitchell Reardon fell to 4-6. He allowed four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Denison's Taylor Perrett kept Wooster off balance all game with a heavy mixture of early-count offspeed offerings filling up all quadrants of the strike zone. He held Wooster to three runs on six hits in seven innings while improving to 8-1 on the year. George Viebrock went two scoreless innings in relief.
Camphausen was the lone Scot with multiple hits against the Big Red.
Denison's eight and nine spots, which were occupied by Bohn and shortstop Owen Wilson, hammered Wooster's pitching to the tune of 6-for-10 with four runs scored and three RBI.