Box Score

Grand Chute, Wis. - Pitchers Matt DeGrand and Justin McDowell of The College of Wooster (Ohio) combined for a 3-0 shutout on Sunday (May 24) over the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) as the Fighting Scots advanced to the championship round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship in Fox Cities Stadium.

St. Thomas will now face Carthage College (Wis.) (38-8) at noon on Monday (May 25). Carthage eliminated Shenandoah (38-10) with a 9-8 decision over the Hornets. Wooster will take on Chapman University (Calif.) with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

St. Thomas (38-13) had been an offensive juggernaut, combining for 25 runs through its first two games of the championship finals. But that was before they ran into DeGrand, who improved to 7-2 on the mound following his longest outing of the season.

DeGrand hurled seven complete innings for the Fighting Scots (42-9) and allowed just three hits without a walk before McDowell closed the door.

"We watched them last night, and I left the ball park thinking we have to score 10 runs, at least," Wooster head coach Tim Pettorini said. The Tommies knocked off Shenandoah by final of 16-5 in second round action.

"We really wanted this one bad,” he added. "I thought Matt pitched tremendously. He threw three pitches for strikes and really was controlling the strike zone."

Tommies’ right fielder Matt Olson doubled in the first inning, but DeGrand quickly settled in by retiring the next 16 batters he faced.

"This was a big game for us," DeGrand said. His Fighting Scots are the last undefeated team remaining in the double-elimination tournament.

"I knew I needed to be extra sharp out there, and I guess it showed. We were successful. Every time I went out there I just thought I needed to stay focused and keep us in the game."

Wooster broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out single by Zack Vesco. The Fighting Scots then tacked on another run in their next at-bat, taking a 2-0 lead on an RBI base knock by Sean Karpen to score Shane Swearingen.

Petorini's squad added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Karpen took a two-out walk and came around to score following back-to-back singles by Luke Sutton and Stu Beath to make it 3-0.

Karpen finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate, while Beath and Vesco contributed two hits apiece. Tim Kahle led the Tommies offensively with a two-hit performance.

"We were always out front on the curve ball, and we were feathering swings instead of taking a good rip at the ball, so we didn't have much success at the plate," St. Thomas head coach Dennis Denning said. "In baseball, it always evens out. We got a lot of breaks in the first two games, and this game we really didn't."

By: Luke LeNoble (Assistant Sports Information Director, Marquette University)