FINAL SCORE: #5 Cleary University 8 #6 Penn State DuBois 0
RECORDS: Cleary University (22-13) | Penn State DuBois (21-29-1)
LOCATION: East Field Park in Glens Falls, NY
IN BRIEF: The Cleary Cougars kept Penn State DuBois off the board as they advanced further into the elimination bracket, keeping their National Championship dreams alive.
HOW THEY SCORED: In the bottom of the second, Mickey Montpas singled to the gap then advanced to second on a wild pitch before he was brought home on a single by William Lovell. Lovell stole second and as the result of a wild pitch moved to third. After a Luke Bunting walk, Nick Hoogerhyde doubled to score Lovell and take a 4-0 advantage through two innings.
Cleary added two more runs in the fourth starting with Briton Ott knocking a double into the gap and advancing to third on a wild pitch. William Lovell brought Ott home on a sac fly to right field. Bunting reached on a single before a Nick Hoogerhyde grounder advanced the runner to second. John Grable went for a base hit and brought Bunting around from second to make it 6-0. Cleary added their final two runs of the game in the 6th when Grable reach on an error by the pitcher and around came Bunting and Hoogerhyde to score who reached on a bunt and an error earlier in the inning.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE: Penn State DuBois’s six hits all came from different players and Clayton Butler had the lone extra base hit for his team. Kenny Heveryl was on the mound and went three and one-thirds inning, giving up six earned runs, two stolen bases, and issuing two strikeouts.
Cleary’s Rhett Holwerda went the full seven innings allowing six hits and just one walk and struck out on his 27 batters faced. Hoogerhyde, Grable, and Ott each had a double for their team. Grable had five RBIs and was 2-3 from the plate with a walk and stolen base. Grable now has 10 RBIs in the tournament.
NEXT UP: Cleary lives to fight on for another game in the elimination bracket. The Cougars will face #1 seeded University of Cincinnati Clermont this afternoon, May, 17th, at 4:30pm with a spot in tomorrow morning’s semi-final on the line. Penn State DuBois, only a second-year program, marked its second tournament appearance with a win over the third-seeded Wright State Lakers and finishes the season at 22-14.
FINAL SCORE: #3 Wright State Lake 2, #1 UC Clermont 3
RECORDS: Wright State Lake (27-18) | UC Clermont (27-16)
LOCATION: East Field Park in Glens Falls, NY
IN BRIEF: The elimination bracket quarter-finals ended in dramatic fashion, as UC Clermont won the game 3-2 on a walk-off with two outs and bases loaded.
HOW THEY SCORED: The game remained scoreless through four, until Issac Fitzgerald of Wright State Lake opened up the game on a two-run RBI single in the fifth. The inning began with a Quintin Cantelli single. Jared Knous reached on an error, advancing Cantelli to third. Tyler Venters and Dustin Lewis each reached base on a fielder’s choice plays by UC Clermont. Tristan Becker would walk to load the bases before the Fitzgerald single drove in Lewis and Venters.
UC Clermont would tie the ballgame in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs on three hits. USCAA All-American Jake Murray began the inning with a triple to left-centerfield. Nick King followed him up with an RBI double to right center. With one out in the inning, Lukas Greenhill singled to knock in King. Caleb Rudisell and Jacob Beinke both walked to load the bases, however relief pitcher Chase Ruiz was able to strike out Nathan Gambill to end the inning.
After Wright State failed to score in the seventh, the Cougars of UC Clermont quickly mounted their last inning attack. Isaac Stidham started the inning with a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. After a strike-out, Murray was walked to create a force play and potential double play. King singled to left, but it wasn’t enough to score the run, leaving bases loaded with one out. Chase Louk ended the ballgame on a sharp groundball to third, which was mishandled, scoring Stidham and securing the win.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE: For UC Clermont, Jake Murray and Nick King combined for five of the Cougars seven hits, going 3-3 and 2-4 respectively. On the mound, USCAA All-American AJ Sweatland went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Jonathon Deifel would pick up the win for the Cougars, coming in for two innings of relief and yielding no runs. UC Clermont picked up the tight win, despite giving up three errors on the day.
NEXT UP: UC Clermont moves on to play the last contest of the day, slated for 4:30pm against Cleary University. The two teams will be battling to see who will play the loser of College of St. Joseph’s Vermont and Apprentice School being played today at 2:00pm. Wright State Lake ends their year with a 27-18 record and their second consecutive appearance in the Small College World Series.
FINAL SCORE: #4 The Apprentice School 6, #2 College of St. Joseph’s (VT) 3
RECORDS: The Apprentice School (29-16) | College of St. Joseph’s VT (25-22)
LOCATION: East Field Park in Glens Falls, NY
IN BRIEF: The Apprentice School advances to the USCAA Baseball National Championship game for the second time in three seasons after defeating College of St. Joseph’s College 6-3.
HOW THEY SCORED: Defending National Champions, College of St. Joseph’s VT, took an early 1-0 lead in the third inning. Jared Morello led off the inning with a double to right center. Tyler Kunzmann grounded out right side, advancing Morello to third, before Nick Powers hit a deep fly to center to score the run.
The Builders answered quickly in the top half of the fourth inning, scoring three runs on three hits. Robbie Watkins started the rally with a double over the left fielder. Cody Hendricks walked and Nick Morrisette bunted to move both runners into scoring position. Pitcher Steve Hux singled to center to score Watkins. Then, Mitchell Grawey who courtesy ran for Hux stole second. Darius Harris dropped a single between the shortstop and centerfielder to score Grawey and Williams, who was the courtesy runner for Hendricks.
Down 3-1, College of St. Joseph’s closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Morello reached first on an error by the second baseman. Kunzmann singled to left field before Nick Powers delivered an RBI single to right.
The Builders built on their lead in the top of the sixth as they started the inning off with a Morrisette double to center, followed by a Hux single into right. Morrisette advanced to third on a wild pitch and Dye knocked a base hit into left to score Morrisette. With two men on, Richardson was walked to load the bases. Countiss fought off pitches and was eventually walked to score Hux.
The Fighting Saints got back a run in the sixth as Brian Quezada scored on a Rodriguez double to right center. Apprentice answered in the top half of the seventh as Morisette walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Hux single to left.
USCAA Player of the Year, Robbie Watkins, was the sparkplug for the Builders, going 2 for 3 with a run. Pitcher Steve Hux went 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs. Additionally, he was 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring a run and knocking in two.
NEXT UP: College of St. Joseph’s VT moves to the elimination bracket final of the USCAA Small College World Series and will play the winner of UC Clermont/Cleary University at 11:00am EST on Thursday. The winner moves on to play the Apprentice School who have advanced to the Small College World Series championship game. The first title game will be played at 2:30pm. Should Apprentice lose, the final championship game will be played at approximately 5:30pm.
FINAL SCORE: #5 Cleary University 11, #1 University of Cincinnati-Clermont 6
RECORDS: Cleary University (23-29-1) | UC Clermont (27-17)
LOCATION: East Field Park in Glens Falls, NY
IN BRIEF: After dropping their first game of the 2017 Small College World Series, Cleary University has won their fourth consecutive game of the series to advance to the elimination bracket final. Today, they defeated #1 ranked UC Clermont 11-6.
HOW THEY SCORED: Cleary University jumped on top of UC Clermont in the top of the second inning, scoring four runs on three hits, with the assistance of two errors. John Malbone led off the inning with a double to left center. Malbone advanced to third as Mickey Montpas reached first on an error. The second error of the inning put Briton Ott on base and scored Malbone. William Lovell followed it up with a single, driving in two more runs. John Grable would later single to score Lovell.
UC Clermont got back two from Cleary in the bottom half of the third. Caleb Rudisell walked to start the inning and Nathan Gambill reached first on an error by the third baseman. Both runners advanced to scoring position on a Kori Embs groundout to shortstop. With two outs, Jake Murray singled to center to drive in both runs to make the game 4-2 in favor of Cleary.
Cleary extended their lead to 7-2 in the fourth, scoring three runs on two hits. After Nick King was entered to pitch for Clermont, Nick Hoogerhyde singled to center. Grable reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third as Reid Beffrey reached on an error. Jordan Hadley then walked to load the bases for the Cougars. King issued his second consecutive walk to Malbone to score the first run of the inning. Montpas then singled to score a run and Lovell took the third walk of the inning to push past the seventh run for Cleary.
Cleary pushed forward another run in the top of the fifth. With one out, Grable took a walk and advanced to second on a Beffrey single to right field. After Malbone was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Montpas walked to score the run.
Down 8-2, UC Clermont began to mount their comeback in the bottom of the fifth. Jonathon Deifel started the inning with a walk. After a fly-out by Murray, King blasted a two-run homer to left. The Cougars of UCC added two more in the sixth on a two out rally. Gambill began the rally with a single to left. Embs followed with another single before Deifel was walked to load the bases. Following a pitching change, Murray hit a two-RBI single to score Embs and Gambill and reducing the Cleary lead to 8-6.
Cleary added three insurance runs on their own two out rally in the top of the seventh. Malbone, Montpas, and Ott each reached base on walks. Lovell had an RBI single and then two additional runs scored on a Luke Bunting bunt that was overthrown on the play to first.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE: UC Clermont gave up four errors in the first two innings, contributing to the four run second. The two teams combined for 17 hits, with a one hit edge going to Cleary.
Standouts for Cleary included Malbone who was 2 for 2, Montpas who was 2 for 3, and Lovell who was 2 for 3. Badih Jawad earned the win for the Cleary Cougars going 4.2 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out two.
NEXT UP: Cleary University moves to the elimination bracket final of the USCAA Small College World Series and will play College of St. Joseph’s VT at 11:00am EST on Thursday. The winner moves on to play the Apprentice School who have advanced to the Small College World Series championship game. The first title game will be played at 2:30pm. Should Apprentice lose, the final championship game will be played at approximately 5:30pm.