Box Score/Play-By-Play
Bradley Detmore Concordia University At Austin	John Hedde Eastern Connecticut State University	Eugene Julien Eastern Connecticut State University	Morgan Thompson Eastern Connecticut State University

It would be heartwarming to say that Eastern Connecticut State University won its opening game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Series for its injured head coach Bill Holowaty, who left the stadium in an ambulance after dislocating his hip in the second inning.

Realistically, the come-from-behind win had more to do with Warriors' offense waking up in clutch situations than anything else.

ECSU beat Concordia University at Austin 5-4 in 10 innings on Friday at Fox Cities Stadium in its first game of the eight-team tournament. The game, however, will be remembered for what happened in the ECSU dugout in the second inning.

Bill Holowaty, who was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January, dislocated his surgically-replaced left hip when, in his excitement, he rose from his seat in the dugout suddenly as his team scored its first run of the game.

Assistant coach Bob Wojick said doctors were able to pop Holowaty's hip into place, but didn't think he'd be back coaching for a couple of days.

"This is really his victory," Wojick said. "He deserves this, and it's just too bad what happened with him."

Holowaty's injury came in the bottom of the second inning with one out when Tom Koch blooped a double down the right-field line to score Jared Holowaty, Bill Holowaty's son, to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.

The game was delayed for 29 minutes while an ambulance came on the field and took Holowaty from the dugout to a local hospital.

Until the eighth inning, the Warriors looked like they were in shock from seeing their coach leave the stadium with a hip injury, as they did not score for five consecutive innings after the injury occurred. But second baseman Morgan Thompson said that wasn't the case.

"I don't think our team was in shock," Thompson said. "I personally wasn't because I figured he'd be OK. We just didn't get any clutch hits."

The Warriors left seven runners on base in the first seven innings, but in bottom of the eighth the Warriors finally got a few hits when they needed them.

With one run in, two outs and runners on second and third base, Eugene Julien pinch hit and knocked a ball down the right-field line that bounced just inside of the foul line. Two runs scored on the double to tie the game 4-4.

Julien, who was recently benched at shortstop in favor of freshman Tom Koch because the coaching staff was upset with him making too many errors, also had a key pinch hit in the NCAA regional that helped the Warriors advance. But he said pinch hitting doesn't suit him well.

"It does put pressure on me," Julien said. "I don't really like it, but I got no choice. I got to do my best to make my friends, my teammates and the family out there proud."

When asked if it was coming off the bench or the pressure itself that he disliked most, Julien had an honest answer.

"I don't like any of them," he said.

The game went to extra innings, and Eastern Connecticut State caught a break in the bottom of the 10th inning after relief ace Tom Spirito got out of a jam in the top of the 10th.

In the bottom of the 10th, Jared Holowaty led off with a single to left. After a failed sacrifice bunt by Dan Silva forced Holowaty at second, Julien hit a potential double-play ball to third base. Concordia third baseman Bradley Detmore threw the ball into right field trying to get the lead runner at second, and Silva moved to third base. After an intentional walk to Jeff Funaro, Thompson topped a 2-1 pitch that bounced high to third base, and Detmore had no play as Silva scored with the winning run.

"I was trying to drive the ball as hard as possible," Thompson said. "I topped it, but I guess they ruled it a hit in the book."

The Warriors avoided having to play through the losers bracket, and now face the winner of Friday's late game, Lakeland College vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Wojick said Matt Fortin would start today's game, and based on who the opponent in the third game is, either Adam Czerwinski or Jeremy Hall would start.

Written By Frank Schwab
Photos By Lehigh Photo

Game #: 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1