No. 16/19 Ranked Scots Playing Waiting Game for NCAA Berth

Bubba O'Donnell

After losing in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals for just the third time since the league adopted its current postseason format in 2001, The College of Wooster, which slipped five spots to No. 16 in this week’s D3baseball.com top-25 poll as well as to No. 19 in the American Baseball Coaches’ Association NCAA Div. III top-30-poll, now has to wait and see if its 34-9 overall record is worthy of an at-large bid into the NCAA Div. III Tournament. That announcement will be made Monday, May 12. Wooster has been in each of the last four NCAA tourneys and 22 overall, which is tied for the seventh-most in Div. III with Methodist College (22), only trailing Eastern Connecticut State University (28), Ithaca College (31), Marietta College (29), Montclair State University (23), and the University of Wis.-Oshkosh (23). Noteworthy, the Fighting Scots did not gain a berth into the regional round the other two seasons they lost in the NCAC semis (2001, 2003).

Last Week: Wooster closed its regular season with two victories for a 33-7 record, but then dropped two-of-three in a conference tournament semifinal series.

On April 30, the Scots hit six home runs, including two by Pat Christensen (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore), to overcome an early 5-0 deficit and post a 10-7 win against fellow northeast Ohio foe John Carroll University at Art Murray Field. All five of John Carroll’s runs during the first and second innings were unearned. The comeback began in the third when Wooster tallied an unearned run and then Christensen led off the bottom of the fourth with a blast to straightaway center, Stu Beath (St. Louis, Mo. / Avon Old Farms - Conn.) opened the home half of the fifth with his first career home run, also to centerfield, and Sean Karpen (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Twp.) belted a two-run shot out to left-center and Matt Groezinger (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington) poked one over the right field fence in the sixth to tie it 6-6. Next in the power brigade was Matthew Johnson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville), who deposited a two-out solo homer to right-center during the seventh. With a 7-6 lead entering the eighth, the Scots went to closer Mark Miller (Convoy, Ohio / Crestview). He was unable to convert the save opportunity, giving up an unearned run, but the offense picked him up as Jake Sankal (Mentor, Ohio / Mentor) led off the bottom of the frame with a single and Dan Skulina (Hinckley, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit) ripped a two-out double down the line in left to put Wooster up 8-7. Christensen then provided the insurance, following with a two-run smash to right-center. Miller, one of five Scot pitchers on the day, ended up with the win to improve his record to 4-1.

On May 1, Miller set the NCAC season record for saves, closing out a Wooster win for the 13th time this year as the Scots beat visiting Ohio Northern University 7-4. The former mark was held by Allegheny College’s Dean Peterson, who notched 12 saves in 1993. Wooster fell behind 1-0, allowing a run in the top of the third, but then put together three-run innings during both the third and the fourth. The third featured Sankal’s two-run triple down the right field line and then he scored on a groundout for a 3-1 lead. The fourth started with back-to-back singles and after a sacrifice fly, Karpen doubled for the second time in the game to plate another run. Next, he stole third base and scored on a second RBI groundout to make it 6-1. Ohio Northern tried to rally, tallying two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, sandwiched around a Christensen home run – his 10th of the season. With the Polar Bears having pulled within 7-4 entering the seventh inning, John Warren (New Castle, Pa. / Union Area) and Miller proceeded to shut them down, facing the minimum over the final three. Warren earned the win (1-1), working 3.0 hitless innings and yielding two walks while striking out two, and Miller tossed a perfect ninth with two groundouts and a strikeout.

On May 3, Bubba O’Donnell (Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier) belted two home runs, including one in the Scots’ nine-run sixth inning, as the senior infielder keyed Wooster’s 14-7 triumph over Ohio Wesleyan University in game one of the teams’ NCAC Tournament semifinal series. Early on, Ohio Wesleyan took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Scots, plating an unearned run in the first and three in the second. The Fighting Scots put together a three-run inning themselves during the first, keyed by a Groezinger RBI double to deep right and a two-run single from Skulina, so they only trailed 4-3 after two. The score remained that way until the bottom of the fourth when O’Donnell, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, sent a ball well over the left field fence for his fifth career round-tripper. Two batters later, Sankal drove a solo shot to center, giving Wooster a 5-4 lead. The sixth inning turned out to be the difference, with the Scots scoring eight of the nine runs with two outs as they strung together six hits and a walk, highlighted by a Shane Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) double to left-center and O’Donnell’s second homer, this time to center, which made it 14-4. On the mound, Adam Samson (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) overcame the shaky defense as well as some seeing-eye hits during the first two innings, settling down to get 13 in a row at one point. He went the first seven innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and one walk, and struck out four while upping his season record to 7-1. O’Donnell ended up going 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and a walk.

On May 4, Wooster banged out five home runs, but it was not enough as Ohio Wesleyan won a pair of games, 6-3 and 14-6, to take the best-of-three NCAC Tournament semifinal series. Despite losing by eight in the decisive game, the Scots had their chances. Trailing 9-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, Wooster first pulled within four on a Skulina two-run homer with one out. The Scots next three batters reached safely, bringing their top offensive threat to the plate in Karpen, who hit a sharp liner. However, it was right at the third baseman, which stepped on third for an inning-ending double play. The Bishops later put a five-spot up on the board in the ninth to seal the victory. Earlier in the third game of the series, Ohio Wesleyan took a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout in the second. Wooster tallied two that frame, including a Christensen solo home run – his 11th this season and No. 38 for his career. That would be the Scots only lead of the day, as the Bishops struck back with three tallies in the third, two in the fourth on a double just inside the left field line, and three more in the sixth. In Sunday’s first game, Ohio Wesleyan set the tone, batting around in the first inning, scoring four runs on three hits, a walk, two wild pitches, a passed ball, and a two-base throwing error. Wooster got back into it with single tallies in the third and fourth on respective solo home runs by Karpen and Groezinger, and then added another in the fifth when Karpen led off with a double and eventually came home on a Groezinger sacrifice fly. Hanging onto a 4-3 lead, the Bishops managed a couple of insurance runs during the sixth, and despite bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh and ninth, the Scots were held scoreless.