SALISBURY, Maryland – The College of Wooster baseball team's absolutely thrilling postseason run ended on Sunday afternoon, as seventh-ranked Salisbury University took a wildly-remarkable winner-take-all slugfest 18-16 to win the Salisbury Super Regional at Sea Gull Baseball Stadium. Earlier in the day, Wooster survived with a 6-4 win over Salisbury to force the if-necessary game.
Wooster (35-17) first-year third baseman Nick Pett crushed a fifth-inning grand slam for his second collegiate round-tripper, and that blast put the Scots up 14-13 in the nightcap. Following that, junior pitcher Dean Brown singled through the left side, senior left fielder Dominic Stilliana drew a two-out walk, and senior catcher Michael Thomas smacked an RBI single up the middle that upped the Scots' lead to 15-13.
Salisbury (36-10) turned to the longball to tie the game at 15 in the top of the seventh inning. Designated hitter Kavi Caster and first baseman Sky Rahill clubbed solo dingers in the frame.
Wooster answered right back in the bottom of the seventh inning for its final lead of the game. Pett singled up the middle and moved into scoring position on Brown's sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Thomas' double off the fence in left center plated Pett, and that edged Wooster ahead 16-15.
Sea Gull center fielder Cameron Hyder's two-run, eighth-inning homer held as the go-ahead blast, then Salisbury tacked on a run in the ninth on third baseman Luke Weddell's RBI single. Brock Hilligoss retired six of the seven batters he faced en route to earning the save. Senior pinch hitter Alex Gasper gave the Scots a chance to tie the game with one swing of the bat with a one-out, ninth-inning single, but the next two Wooster batters were retired.
Wooster overcame a 9-1 deficit in Sunday's winner-take-all game, and the Scots' six-run second was instrumental in the rally. Senior center fielder Ben Gbur mashed a two-run homer to start the comeback, senior shortstop Tyler Chumita reached via an RBI ground-rule two-bagger, and junior first baseman Dane Camphausen launched a mammoth three-run homer to left field that pulled Wooster within 9-7.
Prior to Pett's fifth-inning grand slam, Gbur had an RBI single in the third, a bases-loaded walk issued to Chumita forced in a run in the fifth inning, and Westrick had an RBI groundout following the free pass.
Sophomore Grant Mitchell picked up the pitching staff with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. The right-hander took over in the third inning and was one of eight Wooster pitchers to work in the nightcap. Pett (0-1) took the loss with three runs on four hits in an inning on his line.
Justin McDermott improved to 2-2 for Salisbury. He allowed a run on three hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Earlier in the day, walks and hit batters – two elements that proved costly in Saturday's 8-6 Salisbury win – were Wooster's recipe for success in Sunday's game one. Pett, who scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, was hit by a pitch. Stilliana and Thomas - Wooster's eight and nine hitters – following with back-to-back singles loading the bases, then Gbur hit a fly ball to center field that fell for a hit. Next, senior right fielder Ben Hines drew a bases-loaded free pass, which forced Stilliana in and upped the Scots' advantage to 6-4.
An inning prior, Thomas drew a one-out walk, then Gbur and Hines were hit by pitches. Chumita's RBI groundout tied Sunday's opening game at two, then Gbur scored on a wild pitch. Next, Westrick stayed hot with an RBI single through the right side that pushed Wooster's lead to 4-2.
Salisbury tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Hyder's single to left field brought in left fielder Scott Cameron. Gbur ranged well to his left to track down second baseman Patrick Campbell's fly ball for the final out of the inning.
Gbur then kept Salisbury off the scoreboard in the final two innings for his fifth save of the year. Junior Owen Barnard earned the start and went four innings, during which he allowed two runs on four hits. Senior Mitchell Reardon ran his record to 7-6 with three innings of relief. The left-hander allowed just one hit during his time on the bump.
Thalheimer allowed three runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings, then four Sea Gull relief pitchers allowed three runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Of note, Hines stole his 31st base of the year in Sunday's opening game, marking the most since P.J. Guerrieri tallied that total in 1996. The two are tied for third-place on the program's single-season leaderboard.
Gbur went 5-for-9 on the day with four RBI, three runs scored, a homer, and a triple. Of note, he finished the year with 83 runs, a North Coast Athletic Conference and Wooster single-season record, and the total is tied for the sixth-most in single-season NCAA Div. III history. Gbur's 226 at bats broke the program's single-season record, and his 83 hits are the fourth-most in program history and the top total since Sean Karpen's program-leading 97 in 2009.
Chumita's three RBI on the day upped his single-season program record to 84, a total tied for the 11th-most in single-season NCAA Div. III history.
Thomas capped his career by reaching base safely seven times in 10 trips to the dish.
Caster swung the hot stick for Salisbury, evidenced by a 5-for-7 showing with four RBI and four runs.
Brown, Gbur, Stilliana, Thomas, and Westrick were Wooster's All-Salisbury Super Regional Tournament Team selections.
Prior to dropping the Salisbury Super Regional finale in an absolute thriller, Wooster warded off elimination five times on its NCAA run. Prior to Sunday's game-one win, Wooster ran the table after dropping the Alton Regional opener with a 21-3 win over Crown College (Minnesota), a 4-3 walk-off win over fifth-ranked Webster University (Missouri), and 11-8 and 11-6 victories over Bethel University (Minnesota).