Box Score
Grand Chute, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater must have literally felt like they had a dog nipping at their heels Monday (May 26) afternoon.
The Warhawks held off the pesky Adrian College (Mich.), 13-11, in an elimination game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship held at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
UW-Whitewater (42-9) advances to play Johns Hopkins University (Md.) (40-7) in another elimination game on Monday. Adrian, making its first appearance in the finals, finished the season with a 36-13 record.
Jeff Donovan and Greg Harder paced the UW-Whitewater attack by both going 3-for-4. Jeff Donovan drove in four runs and Harder had three. Bobby Rickstad went 4-for-4 with four runs batted in for Adrian.
The Warhawks took the lead in the third and knocked out Adrian starter Josh Lancaster in the process.
Jeff Donovan led off the third with a walk, and Thomas Corcoran followed with a single. Kevin Zalnis then singled to score Jeff Donovan and put UW-Whitewater up 3-2. That was it for Lancaster, and Ryan Domschott came on in relief.
After a ground out, Jordan Stine singled to score Corcoran and Zalnis and give the Warhawks a 5-2 edge. Domschott got a strikeout and fly out to avoid further damage.
The Bulldogs tried to answer in the top of the fourth, but Greg Donovan struck out Todd Meyers with runners at second and third to end the inning.
UW-Whitewater quickly built on its advantage in the bottom half of the inning, as Ben Kuhlmann singled to start the frame and Zalnis launched a two-out, two-run homer to center field to put the Warhawks up 7-2.
The Warhawks built the lead to 10-2 in the bottom of the fifth, as Whitewater struck for three more runs. Harder delivered a run-scoring single, Kuhlmann followed with a run-scoring double and Jeff Donovan followed that with a run-scoring single.
Just when it looked like the Warhawks had taken control, Adrian put together the biggest rally of the tournament. Adrian scored seven times in the sixth and sent 11 men to the plate.
The inning started with a fielding error by the Warhawks, and Jake Cappelletty followed with a run-scoring double. A single and a walk loaded the bases before Meyers singled to drive in another run.
Nate Sarkissian’s infield fly was then dropped, allowing Alexander Younce to score to trim the lead to 10-5. After a fly out, Rickstad and Steve Vanderheyeden had back-to-back run-scoring singles. Brian Bilius then launched a two-run triple to score Rickstad and Vanderheyden to trim the lead to 10-9.
UW-Whitewater answered back in the bottom half of the inning in a big way.
Two-out singles by Harder and Kuhlmann brought Jeff Donovan to the plate, and he belted a long three-run homer to right field to give UW-Whitewater a 13-9 edge.
Adrian got one run back in the eighth after Bilius reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on Cappelletty’s double to cut the lead to 13-10.
Mike Jacobson, the fourth UW-Whitewater pitcher of the contest, came on in relief to strike out Alexander Younce to end the threat.
Adrian still wasn’t done.
The Bulldogs got a one-out double from Meyers and Sarkissian was hit by a pitch. Rickstad lined a single to left to score Meyers to trim the margin to 13-11. Vanderheyden then hit one to the wall in right that was caught by Joe Munn for the final out.
Adrian got on the board in the top of the first. Alex Cowart started the rally with a two-out double, and Rickstad followed with a towering home run to center field to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
UW-Whitewater rallied to tie the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Ben Prather led off with a single, and a one-out walk and hit batsman loaded the bases. Harder followed with a single through the left side to score Prather and Munn.
By Joe Vanden Acker (Lawrence University Sports Information Director)
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