11th-Ranked Scots Host JCU, ONU Before Beginning Postseason Play

Matt Barnes

The College of Wooster, which slipped four spots to No. 11 in this week’s D3baseball.com/ National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top-25 poll, will host a pair of non-league games before starting what it hopes will be an extended postseason run. On Wednesday, April 30, fellow northeastern Ohio foe John Carroll University (22-11) will visit the Fighting Scots’ Art Murray Field for a 4 p.m. match-up. Wooster has won the last three meetings with John Carroll, 7-4 each of the last two years and 7-3 in 2004. Wooster will be at home Thursday, May 1, too, when it welcomes Ohio Northern University (16-20), which includes Wooster alum Shaun Swearingen ‘07 on its coaching staff, for a 4 p.m. first pitch. Last spring, the Scots and Polar Bears played on the diamond for the first time since 1985, with Wooster prevailing 9-2.

The NCAC Tournament semifinals will be played Saturday, May 3, and if necessary, Sunday, May 4. Wooster, winners of the East Division (14-2), holds one of the No. 1 seeds and will host the second-place team from the West Division, Ohio Wesleyan University (24-13, 10-6 NCAC West), for a best-of-three series, with the first of two nine-inning games Saturday starting at 1 p.m. The other semifinal match-up will be pit Kenyon College (19-16, 8-8 NCAC East) at Denison University (24-16, 12-4 NCAC West), and the winners will advance to the conference’s championship series to be held in Granville, Ohio, on May 8-9. The Scots have won a league-best 11 NCAC titles, but had a run of three in a row halted last season by Ohio Wesleyan during the finals, which saw Wooster take the opener easily, 13-4, and then drop the next two, 10-6 and 12-7.

Last Week: The Scots split four games, putting their overall record at 31-7 and wrapping up their NCAC East Division record at 14-2.

On April 22, Matt Barnes (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Langley) matched a career high with 11 strikeouts and Dan Skulina (Hinckley, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit) belted a three-run homer, leading Wooster past Case Western Reserve University 6-1 in a game played at the Cleveland Indians’ Progressive Field. Barnes bounced back from trouble in the first inning to produce his best outing of the season. Two of Case’s first three batters reached, however, the sophomore right-hander settled in, setting down 16 of the next 17 batters he faced, including twice striking out the side. Trailing 1-0, Wooster answered in the top of the second, as Matt Groezinger (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington) led off the frame with a double and scored when Pat Christensen (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore) followed with a single. Two outs later, Bubba O’Donnell (Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier) sent a single to right field and Christensen beat the throw home to give the Scots the lead. It remained 2-1 until the top of the seventh when Skulina roped a one-out double to left field, later scoring when Matthew Johnson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) screamed a two-out double down the left-field line. Barnes maintained the 3-1 lead through the bottom of the seventh and then Wooster broke the game open. A Case error extended the eighth inning, with Skulina later coming to the plate with two runners on. The senior first baseman crushed an offering from the Spartans’ relief pitcher, as the ball cleared the 19-foot high wall between straightaway left and left-center. The Scots then quickly closed it out, using three different relievers to get the final six Case hitters in order. Barnes only gave up two hits following the one-run first inning and the 11 strikeouts came without a walk, and Skulina finished with a 2-for-4, three-RBI outing and Johnson doubled twice in three at bats.

On April 23, Skulina homered for the second-straight day, giving Wooster a 2-0 lead after four innings, however, it was all Heidelberg College the rest of the way as the ‘Berg scored nine unanswered runs for a 9-2 non-conference victory at Art Murray Field. The Scots got off to a good start, as a Groezinger double and a Christensen single led to a run in the second inning. With one out during the fourth, Skulina stepped to the plate and lined the first pitch he saw to the opposite field, clearing the fence in right-center for his fifth round-tripper of the season. While Wooster’s offense was tallying a couple of runs, Anthony Trapuzzano (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Canevin Catholic) was no-hitting Heidelberg through four innings, but he didn’t get out of the fifth, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk while recording one out. The ‘Berg would eventually take a 3-2 lead after five and added two more in the sixth, one in the eighth, and three in the ninth, while the Scots were unable to take advantage of a couple of opportunities to get back in the game. Trapuzzano was tagged with a rare loss (7-2), giving up three runs on two hits and three walks during 4.1 innings pitched. Jake Sankal (Mentor, Ohio / Mentor) reached safely four times in five plate appearances, going 2-for-3 with two walks to lead Wooster.

On April 27, the Scots appeared to be on their way to a sweep of Hiram College, having won game one 12-0 and taken a 4-0 lead in the nightcap, however, the Terriers put up a five-spot in the top of the fifth and hung on for a 5-4 victory to earn a split in the NCAC divisional match-up at Art Murray Field. In the opener, Adam Samson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) one-hit Hiram through five innings and received plenty of offensive support. Sean Karpen (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Twp.) keyed the early scoring, leading off with a double to spark a two-run first inning, belting a two-run home run in the second, and singling, stealing second, and scoring in the fourth for a 5-0 cushion. The Scots added three more tallies during the fifth to put the game away. After a leadoff single, Samson got 12 of the next 13 hitters out en route to improving to 6-1. The second game started similarly to the first, with Wooster tallying one run in the first on a sacrifice fly, two in the third, keyed by back-to-back doubles from Skulina and Groezinger, and one in the fourth on another sacrifice fly. The Terriers broke out in the fifth, batting around with five runs on six hits and a walk, and the Scots were unable to come back. Offensively on the day, Karpen went 4-for-7 with three RBI and Sankal was 4-for-8 with two RBI.

NCAC Pitcher of the Week: For his efforts (see above), Wooster sophomore right-hander Matt Barnes (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Langley) was named NCAC Pitcher of the Week.