Box Score

Grand Chute, Wis. - Chapman University (Calif.) right-hander Matt Irsfeld pitched a complete-game six-hitter and helped his team avoid elimination in a 4-2 victory over Farmingdale State College (N.Y.) on Saturday (May 23) in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Time Warner Cable Field.

The senior said he started throwing his split fastball late in the game.

“I don’t throw it too often,” Irsfeld said. “We knew they were looking to swing at first-pitch strikes throughout the game and we wanted to get outs early in the count.”

“The key to this game was Matt going from start to finish for us,” said Chapman head coach Tom Tereschuk. “We didn’t do a lot offensively, but Matt didn’t let them get anything going throughout the game.”

With the win, Chapman (31-16) advances to play The College of Wooster (Ohio) or Kean University (N.J.) on Sunday (May 24) at noon. The Panthers are making their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship and won the national title in 2003.

Farmingdale, making its first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, finishes its season with a record of 30-17.

“This is a tough way to go out, but we’ve come a long way,” Farmingdale head coach Keith Osik said. “I’m really proud of the way they competed all year.”

The Rams took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning as Mike Labrozzi opened the frame with a double and moved to third on an Irsfeld wild pitch. After a walk to Don Moscatelli, Vinny Block drove in Labrozzi with a sacrifice fly.

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Chapman scored an unearned run to force a 1-1 tie. Halston Barcelo singled for the Panthers and scored after Tyler Hadzinsky’s single was misplaced by the Rams’ Moscatelli.

Each team tallied a run in the sixth inning as Farmingdale pinch-runner Vincent Sanquini scored on a double steal to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.

Chapman came right back in the bottom half of the inning to score its second unearned run of the game. John Semel reached on a fielding error to lead off the inning and moved to second on Patrick Ohail’s single. Tristan Phillips then put down a sacrifice bunt and reached first as Rams’ second baseman Rich Gili couldn’t get his foot on the bag for an error to load the bases. After Barcelo fouled out for the first out of the inning, Semel scored on Hadzinsky’s sacrifice fly.

The Panthers took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of seventh without the benefit of a hit. Ryan Hall was hit by a pitch to start the inning and advanced to second on Ryan Prechtl’s sacrifice bunt. Ben Owens then put down a sacrifice bunt and the Rams’ third baseman Steve King threw the ball away to allow Hall to score. Chapman finished the scoring with a run in the eighth on Joe Lehman’s sacrifice fly to score Barcelo.

“We made some mistakes defensively today and you can’t do that here,” Osik said. “We hit and pitched well at the regional last week, but we didn’t deserve to move on to another day. It makes for a long day if you don’t catch the ball or throw strikes,” Osik added.

Farmingdale’s Mike Gionesi suffered his first loss of the season (3-1), pitching eight innings and allowing nine hits and four runs (two earned) with one strikeout. Mike LaBrozzi was 3-for-4 at the plate for the Rams with one run scored.

Hadzinsky was 3-for-3 with an RBI for Chapman while Ohail and Barcelo each had two hits. Barcelo also scored twice.

By: David Johnson (Sports Information Director, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)