GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - Wartburg College head coach Joel Holst said that his relief pitcher, Aaron Saeugling, is not an average freshman.

     So when the Knights' opponents from Rowan University overcame a 6-2 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against Saeugling, there wasn't a lot of worry from Holst.

     Seven innings later, Holst definitely didn't have to worry anymore.

     Saeugling pitched eight-and-one-third innings of relief, and the Knights came away with an 8-6 victory over Rowan in 16 innings on Sunday evening at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at Fox Cities Stadium. It was the longest game in the 30-year history of the Division III championships (regionals and finals); breaking the previous mark of 14 innings (1992 and 2002).

     With the win, Wartburg (37-10) remained alive in the double-elimination tournament, and will face the State University of New York-Cortland (41-8-1) in an elimination game on Monday at noon. Rowan finishes its season at 42-10.

     "He came in and was pitching well," said Holst of Saeugling, who relieved starter Charles Colvin with two outs in the eighth inning. "He was in the zone, and that's what we tell him to do, pound the strike zone. He did that and they (Rowan) just did their jobs. They came back, but there was nothing I saw out there that was wrong with Aaron. It was the same guy going out there; he just had a little rough luck and didn't get the save.

     "He's not a normal freshman. I think that he's a confident kid. And to put a freshman out there in that setting, in the College World Series, that says a lot right there. For him to do what he did here tonight was tremendous, a tremendous effort."

     After the rough ninth inning, Saeugling settled in and was effective, striking out six batters in extra innings while allowing no walks and just two hits.

     "I was thinking about Charlie Colvin. He did a great job coming in. I didn't want to let him down," said Saeugling of his team's starter, who had pitched seven-and-two-thirds innings with three strikeouts and just seven hits allowed.

     But Rowan reliever Brian McLaughlin was just as strong in extra frames, pitching eight innings of relief. He struck out four while allowing just three hits from the ninth inning to the 15th, before Wartburg claimed the game-ending rally in its half of the 16th inning.

     With two outs in the 16th inning, Joel Reynolds put the Knights ahead, smacking a double to deep center field to bring home Marc Numedahl, who had reached base on a fielder's choice. Both Reynolds and Numedahl tied an NCAA Division III playoff record for at-bats in a game, each recording eight at-bats.

     "Whenever Joel gets up, everybody in the dugout is confident that he's going to come up big. More often than not, he comes through," said teammate Brian Greiner. "With a runner on second, the odds are in our favor that he's going to drive that guy in, and that definitely got us jacked up to go into the bottom of that inning and close it out."

     After Reynolds' go-ahead double - making him 5-for-8 on the evening -- Greiner provided the insurance run, plating Reynolds on a single to center to put the Knights ahead 8-6.

     "Seeing him on second and knowing that we were up one -- and going into the bottom of the inning, being up two is a lot better feeling than being up one -- I was definitely making sure that I was going to give my best effort to drive that run in, and give us a two-run cushion in the bottom of the inning," Greiner said.

     Saeugling then closed out the game for the Knights, as Rowan batters grounded out twice and flew out.

     "There's no quitters in that dugout," Holst said. "They fought hard all year and battled. That's what they did tonight. They just hung in there."

     Rowan forced the long extra session with a dramatic comeback, scoring five runs in the final two innings of regulation to tie the game at 6-6. In the eighth, Frank Galeota reached base on a throwing error and eventually came home on a sacrifice fly by Jesse Pappler.

     In the ninth, Frank Hasenauer led off the inning with a single to left-center, and a double by Matt Johnson and walk loaded the bases with just one out. Matt Enuco cleared the bases with a three-run triple to the right-center gap to cut the lead to 6-5, and a sacrifice fly by Michael Rucci plated Enuco to tie the game.

     Wartburg grabbed a 4-0 advantage after the first three innings, and took advantage of a strong start by Colvin to hold the lead most of the way. Colvin struck out three while allowing seven hits and one walk in seven-and-two-thirds innings, and just one of the two runs against him was earned.

     "Charlie Colvin has been one of our most consistent pitchers all year," Holst said. "He just goes out and guts it out and does a tremendous job."

     A run-scoring double by Reynolds, bases-loaded walk and RBI single by Brandon Steinbrecher gave the Knights a 3-0 lead after the first inning. A double by Greiner plated Reynolds in the fourth to give Wartburg a 4-0 lead.

     Rowan was limited to just two hits in the first four innings, before scoring its first run in the fifth inning. Hasenauer singled, stole second and scored on a single by Galeota.

     Wartburg loaded the bases in the seventh inning on an error, fielder's choice and hit batter, and a single by Greiner plated Numedahl with the fifth run for the Knights. Brandon Steinbrecher crushed a home run down the left-field line to lead off the eighth inning, giving the Knights a 6-1 lead.

     Rowan stayed in the game with its defense, which converted a championships-record six double plays, just the fourth time in NCAA Division III overall history (regular-season and playoffs) that the feat has been accomplished.

     "Up until the eighth inning, I was pretty upset. We weren't playing even close to the way we can play," said Rowan coach John Cole. "(But after) that four run rally, the rest of the way, we played like warriors. There were no losers tonight. We've got to go home, but when your kids play that well, that's why you coach.

     For Cole, the loss provided a bittersweet ending to a storied career with the Profs. After seven seasons and a 229-73 record at Rowan, Cole is leaving to take the head coaching position at the University of Pennsylvania, an NCAA Division I program, on July 1.

     "I told them (the players) to keep up the tradition of the program," Cole said. "It took us 25 years to get back here and we did it two years in a row. Now they have an obligation to try to keep it at a high level. It's difficult to get in here, and anything can happen in these tournaments. There's not much of a difference between a lot of these teams."

Written By Don Stoner
Augsburg College Sports Information Director

Photos By Lehigh Photo