OWU Rally, Hope Upset of No. 1 Scots, and Another Marietta Win Headline Day 2 Action

Hope turns a double play in the sixth inning to help preserve a 4-3 lead during the Flying Dutchmen's 5-3 win over top-seeded Wooster Thursday.

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – Marietta College’s Tim Knowlton threw a three-hit 4-0 shutout against second-seeded Otterbein College, highlighting day two of the NCAA Div. III Baseball Regional Tournament at Mills Field, which also included Ohio Wesleyan University scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth to overcome the College of Mount St. Joseph 7-6 in an elimination game and Hope College upending The College of Wooster, the No. 1 seed, by a 5-3 count.

Thursday’s action began with a lot of offense, as fifth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan (25-15) jumped out to a 5-4 lead, including a three-run homer by Joey McDaniel, after just two innings of play. The pitching improved and Mount St. Joseph (33-11), the sixth seed, looked like it was going to survive to play another day after scoring twice in the sixth, including a leadoff home run that frame from Nick Weimer, and continued to lead 6-5 going into the eighth.

The bottom of that inning, though, saw the Battling Bishops string together a one-out walk, single, and Brent Wilkins’ double to centerfield, the latter of which plated what proved to be the game-winning run. It nearly wasn’t enough, as the Lions loaded the bases with one out during the ninth before Sean Speed induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

For Speed, it marked his first save of the season, while middle reliever Tyler Smith earned the win (6-2), coming in during the sixth and going 2.2 innings of one-hit scoreless ball.

Offensively, Ohio Wesleyan’s Steve Ruygrok went 3-for-4, as did Weimer, who also had three RBI.

In the day’s second game, third-seeded Hope (29-12) staved off elimination. Wooster (41-6) went ahead 1-0 when Shaun Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson), Sheldon Steiner (Dalton, Ohio / Central Christian), and Pat Christensen (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore) singled back-to-back-to-back in the bottom of the first.

The Flying Dutchmen produced a three-hit inning themselves in the third, which, along with a hit batsman, resulted in two runs, and they never trailed again. Hope added another tally in the fourth to make it 3-1, but Dan Skulina (Strongsville, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit), playing in his hometown, knotted things up in the Scots’ half of the fourth, as he belted a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence for a two-run homer.

It remained 3-3 until the top of the sixth. The leadoff batter that frame got on via an error and came around to score what turned out to be the game-winning run. The Flying Dutchmen added an insurance tally during the ninth and then closed out Wooster, stranding runners on first and second when the final out was recorded.

Hope starter Dustin Wuis picked up the win (7-2), pitching the first six innings, during which he gave up three runs on six hits and two walks. Robby Poll notched a save, his second of the year, as he yielded just one hit and two walks over the final three innings.

Matt VanderVelde keyed the Flying Dutchmen victory, reaching safely in all five plate appearances. He was 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and also got hit by a pitch, while Steiner was the Scots’ lone player with a multi-hit outing (2-for-4).

Marietta (30-14), the No. 4 seed, prevailed in Thursday’s final match-up, the winners’ bracket game, behind Knowlton’s performance. His counterpart, Doug Stevens, matched him through the first four innings, but then in the bottom of the fifth, the Pioneers’ Kristian DeJeet drove a one-out double to left-center, scoring Brennan Cribbins, who had led off the frame with a bunt single. Marietta added two more runs in the fifth, both unearned, as well as another unearned tally in the seventh.

Otterbein (32-12) only managed a double, two singles, and three walks off Knowlton, who improved to 8-1 with the shutout. The Cardinals best scoring opportunity came in the third when they had runners on first and third with one out, but after that, they didn’t have another running in scoring position until a two-out double by Ben Titus in the eighth.

Stevens was the tough-luck loser (5-6), as only one of the four runs that came in was earned, and he only yielded six hits and a pair of walks in all.

Friday’s first game will match-up the only two teams to be ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Div. III coaches’ poll this season, as Otterbein and Wooster look to avoid elimination, starting at noon.