GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - Losing seven games in a row to Rowan University over the last four seasons - including three games in a row earlier this season -- didn't matter much to the College of Wooster entering Saturday night's game in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium.

    The game that mattered the most between the two teams put the Scots a game closer to realizing the dream of a national championship.

    Behind a 3-for-4, three-RBI performance from designated hitter Kurt Kapferer and a solid starting pitching effort from Brian Miller, Wooster claimed an 8-2 victory over Rowan in a championship bracket game. With the win, Wooster (39-7) will face Wisconsin-Whitewater (43-7) on Sunday at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the finals. Rowan (42-9) will drop to the elimination bracket to face Wartburg (36-10) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

    Batting in the cleanup spot, Kapferer uncorked a towering home run to right-center field in the sixth inning. A double in the first inning drove in a run and a single to center drove in another run, completing a three-RBI, two-run effort that kept his Scots alive in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

     "Last night, I didn't get a ball out of the infield," said Kapferer. "I got extended on it, hit the ball up and it the wind was blowing straight out (to right), so anything can happen."

    Wooster jumped on the board early and never trailed. Back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Kapferer and Pat Christensen gave the Scots a 2-0 lead. In the third, the Scots scored again, as Division III National Player of the Year Luke Ullman stroked a leadoff double to center and scored on a Kapferer single. Kapferer's solo homer gave the Scots a commanding 4-1 lead.

    The Scots claimed insurance runs in their final two innings of work, as Brandon Boesiger singled, Ullman walked and both scored on a two-run single by Jake Frank in the seventh. Boesiger singled and scored on a triple by pinch-hitter Brock Busson. Busson then scored on a wild pitch to complete the Scots' scoring.

    Rowan's Frank Galeota had three of his team's six hits in the contest and reached base all five times he appeared at the plate, adding two walks and scoring two runs. He scored on a single by Michael Rucci in the fifth inning and came across on a groundout by Irv McFarland in the seventh. However, Rowan stranded 11 runners on base in the contest.

     "Their big three guys beat us," said Rowan coach John Cole. "They drove some balls with guys in scoring position and our middle of the order didn't. That was the difference. With guys in scoring position, they delivered and we didn't. The game was much closer than the score indicated."

    Miller pitched five-and-two-thirds innings for the Scots, striking out six while walking five and allowing four hits. Ryan Mullins and Walt Samson pitched short stints for the Scots before Luke Katich, making his second straight appearance in relief in the tournament, pitched the final two-and-a-third innings, striking out three while allowing just one walk and no hits.

     "The main thing for me was just keeping my confidence," Miller said. "Coming back from my injuries, things didn't quite go the way I planned them to, but I kept a positive frame of mind throughout the entire time. I knew I'd be there in the end. It was just a matter of going out and doing it. I wanted the ball this game."

    Ryan Kulik started for Rowan and pitched six-and-two-thirds innings, striking out two while allowing six runs and eight hits. Gary Winkler and Conrad Renner pitched in relief.