Devin Drag Pitcher Chapman Univ.

Brandon Leonard Outfield Wheaton College

Patrick Ohail First Base Chapman Univ.

Kurt Yacko Shortstop Chapman Univ.

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Devin Drag was as good as advertised.

The Chapman University (Calif.) standout pitcher tossed a six-hit shutout, as the Panthers beat Wheaton College (Mass.), 3-0, Saturday night in a winner's bracket game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium.

"It's at the top (of my performances this season) because it's the World Series," said Drag, a junior from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. "I don't take any game lightly. I go 100 percent every time."

Drag, who leads the nation in earned run average, struck out 12 and walked only three. He caught seven Wheaton College batters looking at strike three.

"That was the pitch they were looking at," Drag said of his slider. "I felt like I was in command the whole game."

Drag, who improved to 10-1 on the season, lowered his earned run average to 0.72.

"We knew coming in how good he was," Wheaton College head coach Eric Podbelski said. "I looked at his numbers on the stat sheet, and I thought it was a misprint. Obviously, it wasn't."

Chapman University (33-11) advances to play Sunday at 7 p.m. against the winner of the late game Saturday between Marietta College and Montclair State University. Wheaton College (39-9) will play Sunday at noon in an elimination game against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (35-17).

The Lyons made it even tougher on themselves by getting behind early, as Chapman University struck for three runs in the top of the first. Lead-off hitter Jarrod Sammet singled to start the game and Brian Brubaker was then hit by a pitch.

Wheaton College starting pitcher Chris Martin then fielded a bunt from Tyler Dean and threw wildly past third to load the bases. After a sacrifice fly by John Alexander scored Sammet, Patrick Ohail followed with a two-run double to put the Panthers up 3-0.

"It makes it a lot easier to pitch with a lead," Drag said. "I still think of it as a close game no matter what the score is. (Having the lead) leaves you room to make a mistake."

Drag looked comfortable from the start, as the first four outs by Wheaton College came on called third strikes.

"Devin is really dominating. It was just a great performance by him," Chapman University head coach Tom Tereschuk said.

"We were in a lot of situations to score runs but we didn't get that key hit. It was important that he shut them down. For us to be fortunate to get some runs early and have Devin out there, it leaves everyone feeling confident."

Chapman University got serious scoring threats going in the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings but couldn't push any more runs across. The Panthers stranded 14 runners for the game.

"Once we got in that hole we couldn't dig ourselves out no matter how hard we tried," Podbelski said. "We pulled out all the stops we could. The pitchers battled and kept it as close as they could."

The Lyons got only four runners as far as second base but did get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Drag walked Mark Baumer and Brandon Leonard followed with a single up the middle. After a fly out and right on cue, Drag struck out Rafael Castillo looking to end the game.

By Joe Vanden Acker
Lawrence University Sports Information Director

Photography by Lehigh Photo