FINAL SCORE: Illinois Tech 3, Apprentice School 1
RECORDS: Illinois Tech 23-9; Apprentice School 25-14
LOCATION: War Memorial Stadium/Hampton, VA
IN BRIEF: Michael Malfeo picked up the save and tied a tournament record with three doubles as top-seeded Illinois Tech defeated fifth-seeded Apprentice School 3-1 on Thursday afternoon.
HOW THEY SCORED:
The Scarlet Hawks got on the board in the bottom of the first inning as with two outs Michael Malfeo doubled to right center and scored on a single from Brian Colon-Rodriguez.
In the third inning, Illinois Tech pushed two across as Ryan Fitzpatrick started the inning with a bunt single and scored two outs later on a double from Malfeo. After moving to third on a failed pickoff attempt, Malfeo scored on another RBI single to right from Colon-Rodriguez for a 3-0 lead.
The Builders got on the board in the sixth inning as with one out Mark Labrador reached on an error and went to second on a single from Ryan Hendrickson. After a walk to Lee Rossi to load the bases, Christian Burton drove in Labrador with a sacrifice fly to center and trim the deficit to 3-1.
BEHIND THE BOX:
The Scarlet Hawks had nine hits in the game as Malfeo was 3-for-3 with three doubles and Colon-Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Shane Pung was also 2-for-3 for Illinois Tech who will now face the winner of Penn State Greater Allegheny and Tennessee Temple in the Winners Bracket Final at 2pm Friday.
Kyle Bumpass took the win for Illinois Tech throwing six innings with nine strikeouts, two walks, one unearned run and five hits allowed to put his record at 5-1.
NEXT UP:
Apprentice School had five players with one hit apiece as Mike Brumfield took the loss throwing six innings with six strikeouts and nine hits allowed. Top-seeded Illinois Tech advances to the finals of the winners bracket where they will await the winner of second-seeded Penn State Greater Allegheny and third seeded Tennessee Temple University. The Builders face the winner of Cincinnati-Clermont and College of St. Joseph's (VT) at 11:30 am on Friday in the elimination bracket.
