University of St.
Thomas 8,
Marietta College 4 |
| Box Score/Play-By-Play
2001 Main Page - Game #: 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
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| Stars
Of The Game - Game 15 |
Brad Bonine
Outfield
Had 3 Hits & 4 Runs Batted In, Including A 2-Run Home Run
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Matt Buzzell
Shortstop
Had 2 Hits, 2 Runs Batted In & Scored 2 Runs
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Luke Sather
Outfield
Had 2 Hits & 1 Run Batted In
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Brian Whinnery
Pitcher
Allowed Just 6 Hits & Struck Out 6 Batters In 9 Innings To Gain
The Win |
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After two straight years of disappointment,
the University of St. Thomas finally will bring home some fond memories from the
NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
St. Thomas, which had finished second in each of the past two College World Series,
won the first national baseball championship in school history on Tuesday, beating
Marietta College 8-4 in a winner-take-all championship game at Fox Cities Stadium.
"I don't know if I can describe it," senior second baseman Jake Mauer
said. "After being so close, it's like a fairy tale, really."
Outfielder Brad Bonine said: "I thought it would never happen."
Leading by four in the ninth, starter Brian Whinnery worked a 1-2-3 inning, getting
the final hitter to fly out to Bonine in center to set off the celebration.
"I'm real happy, but I'm happy for my players," St. Thomas coach Dennis
Denning said. "I'm just happy these guys could win it, because they got the
bragging rights for a year, anyway."
Marietta College scored in the top of the first inning. Jay Coakley hit a single
through the hole into left field to drive in the first run of the game.
St. Thomas answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a run on Luke Sather's
infield single, which he beat out when the Marietta first baseman was unable to
reach first base and get the putout in time.
The Tommies put up three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 4-1 lead.
Bonine hit a two-run double to left-center field gap, and he scored from third
later in the inning when Mauer's bunt barely stayed fair down the third-base line.
Marietta College pulled starter Jim Sharp after the second inning, and Scott Stocker
kept the Pioneers in the game by blanking the Tommies through the fifth inning.
Marietta's offense responded with runs in the fourth and fifth innings to cut
its deficit to 4-3.
In the sixth inning, St. Thomas widened its lead. Scott Christiansen led off with
a single and was sacrificed to second. Matt Buzzell hit a double down the left-field
line to score one run, and Bonine followed with a two-run home run to right to
give the Tommies a 7-3 lead.
"We just had a double to score a run, so I just wanted to hit the ball hard,"
said Bonine, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and was named tournament MVP. "I
think it helps anytime there's a home run hit."
The teams traded runs in the seventh inning, and Marietta College loaded the bases
in the top of the eighth inning, down by four runs. Whinnery got Mike Menke to
hit a comebacker to the mound, and the Tommies got out of it without a run scoring.
"I was just trying not to throw it into the bullpen (on the putout),"
Whinnery said. "It wasn't like I was fooling a lot of them, especially later
in the game, and the guy just missed the ball a little bit."
Bonine led five St. Thomas players on the all-tournament team. Tom Carroll, Jake
Mauer, Brian Whinnery and Tony Wolverton were the others named from St. Thomas.
Kris Buirley, Matt DeSalvo and Todd Timmer of Marietta were named all-tournament,
as were SUNY-Cortland's Brendan Chiavaro and Craig Conway and Corey Hamman of
Montclair State. |
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