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Defending champion Eastern Connecticut State
University scored seven runs on 12 hits in the
first four innings of the contest to defeat
the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 12-2, in
an elimination game of the NCAA Division III
Baseball World Series held Sunday (May 25) at
Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.
Eastern
Connecticut State University (43-8) remains
alive in the double-elimination event, with
its next game against Christopher Newport University
scheduled for Monday (May 26) at 12 noon or
3:30 p.m. UW-Oshkosh (37-8), competing in its
17th NCAA Division III World Series, concluded
play in the 2003 eight-team tournament with
a fifth-place finish, going 1-2.
Eastern
Connecticut State University banged out a season-high
21 hits off six UW-Oshkosh pitchers. The Warriors,
who had a season-low two hits in Saturday’s
(May 24) 3-2 loss to Chapman University, scored
three runs on four hits in the first inning,
two runs on four hits in the fourth and four
runs on four hits in the eighth. The 21 safeties
were the most allowed by UW-Oshkosh this season.
Eastern
Connecticut State University scored three runs
in the top of the first inning as Dwight Wildman
hit a sacrifice fly and Leon Galemba a two-run
single. Following run-scoring singles by Dan
Silva in the second inning and Jeff Funaro in
the third, the Warriors took a 7-1 lead in the
fourth on run-scoring singles by Eugene Julien
and Galemba.
UW-Oshkosh
closed its deficit to 4-1 in the second on a
run-scoring single by Mike Mau and 7-2 in the
fifth on a run-scoring single by Kyle Heckendorf.
Eastern
Connecticut State University closed its scoring
with a run in the sixth and four in the eighth,
with the latter highlighted by Julien’s
two-run single.
Julien,
Galemba and Silva each had four hits for Eastern
Connecticut State University, while Marc Garofalo
had three and Tom Koch two. The Warriors had
all five of the game’s extra-base hits,
including a triple by Galemba.
UW-Oshkosh
recorded only four hits in the game, its second-lowest
total of the season.
Ryan
DiPetro started on the mound for Eastern Connecticut
State University and raised his record to 10-1
on the year after yielding just four hits in
eight innings. DiPetro stuck out six of the
33 batters he faced. Michael Maruska pitched
a hitless ninth inning for the Warriors.
Jim
Ziegler took the pitching loss for UW-Oshkosh
after lasting just one-third of an inning as
the starter. Ziegler (2-2) allowed four hits
and three runs to the four batters he faced.
Ziegler was followed by Andy Kraus in the first
inning, Jeremiah Gowey in the third, Ryan Hermus
in the third, Jason Kral in the fourth and Brian
Gerl in the eighth.
UW-Oshkosh’s
37 wins in 2003 are the third-highest total
in school history. The Titans won 41 games in
1994 and 1998 and 39 in 1995. UW-Oshkosh also
won 37 games in 1985 and 1987.
UW-Oshkosh
concluded the 45-game season hitting .346 with
46 home runs and 464 runs scored. The Titans
were also hit by 104 pitches this year, a mark
that tied a NCAA Division III record that was
originally set by Allegheny College in 1997.
Written
By Kennan Timm
Photos By Lehigh Photo
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