Southern Maine Ousts Titans from D-III Series
Click
here for IWU/Southern Maine Box Score
Southern Maine banged out 15 hits and took advantage of five Illinois Wesleyan
errors in ousting the Titans from the Division III College World Series,
12-2, on Saturday in Appleton, Wis.
The Huskies (37-13) roughed up IWU starter Steve Schilsky (8-3) for
five runs in three innings and collected five unearned runs off Josh Ward
in 2 2/3 innings. The Titans finally pushed across two runs in the ninth
inning, ending an 18-inning scoreless drought.
Righthander Mark Russell (7-1) scattered seven hits in the conplete
game win. Five Southern Maine starters had two or more hits and Jody Curcuru
and Pat Toomey blasted home runs.
IWU ended its season with a 37-15-1 record and made its first-ever
appearance in the Division III national championships.
St. Thomas Blanks IWU in First Round
Click
here for IWU/St. Thomas Box Score
Lefthander Bryan Whinney allowed just three hits and struck out nine over
eight innings to pitch the University of St. Thomas past Illinois Wesleyan,
7-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division III baseball championship
on Friday in Appleton, Wis.
St. Thomas (36-9), the runner-up in the tournaament the past two seasons,
hammered out 16 hits in the win. Brad Bonine, Tom Carroll and Tony Wolverton
each had three hits for the Tommies. Wolverton had three runs batted in
and Carroll blasted a home run in the ninth inning
IWU (37-14-1), making its first-ever appearance in the Division III
College World Series, got two hits from Justin Cripe and one each from
Chris Kaufman and a double from Ryan Gilfillan.
Senior Adam Palmer (8-4) took the loss for IWU. He allowed 15 hits
in 8 1/3 innings.
At Thursday night's Division III championship banquet, IWU's Steve
Schilsky was named second team All-American as a pitcher and Gilfillan
was the third team All-American shortstop. Schilsky will start the Titans'
second game of the tournament, which will be played Saturday at 1:15 p.m.
against the loser of the Cortland State/Southern Maine game.
Division III College World Series Links
NCAA
Division III Baseball Championships (results, schedule, weather)
Chapman
University
University of St. Thomas
SUNY-Cortland
State
Marietta
College
Montclair
State University
University of
Southern Maine
Illinois Wesleyan Advances to College World Series;
Titans Make First Appearance in Div. III Tourney
Friday
The Illinois Wesleyan Titans, making their first appearance in the NCAA
Division III baseball championship round, will open against the University
of St. Thomas at 4:30 Friday (May 25) in the first round of the tournament.
IWU (37-13-1) captured the Central Region title with a 7-6
win over Wartburg on Sunday. IWU lost Sunday's first game, 11-10, in
10 innings, snapping a 17-game winning streak. That school record win streak
dated back to a 5-1 loss on April 21 at Elmhurst. IWU has won 25 of its
last 28 games after starting the season with a 12-10-1 record through April
7.
The double-elimination championship event is played at Fox Cities Stadium
in Grand Chute, Wis., just west of Appleton. Built in 1995, the 5,500-seat
Fox Cities Stadium not only plays host to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers,
a Midwest League (Class A) farm team of the Seattle Mariners, but also
began hosting the NCAA Division III World Series in 2000.
The University of St. Thomas (from St. Paul, Minn.) has a 35-9 record
and is making its third straight apparance in the Division III World Series.
Coach Dennis Denning's Tommies, NCAA Division III runners-up in 1999 and
2000, are now 22-6 in postseason play over the last three seasons, including
a 9-1 record in the Midwest regional.