GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - John Semel may not know how
to start games, but he sure knows how to finish them.
Semel threw three innings of scoreless relief to preserve a 7-5
victory over Kean University in Sunday afternoon's elimination game
at the NCAA Division III baseball championships at Fox Cities
Stadium.
Kean (39-11) started the ninth with back-to-back singles and
attempted to bunt the runners into scoring position. Semel fired
the bunt to a stretching third baseman Tristan
Phillips to stop momentum in its tracks. A strikeout and
ground ball later had the Panthers advancing to the fourth round of
the tournament for the first time since 2006.
The Panthers jumped ahead in the second inning thanks to a clutch
two-out RBI double by junior C Joe Lehman. The
Panthers continued their two out barrage pushing across runs in the
fourth on double steal throwing error and in the fifth courtesy of
a IF Patrick Ohail RBI single.
The Cougars was held in check for the first four innings before
taking a short-lived 4-3 lead in the fifth. Kean plated four runs
on four singles with one out before IF Tyler
Hadzinsky made an over-the-shoulder circus catch. The
bobbling catch confused third base runner IF Matt
Diaz, who was ruled out for leaving early on the
appeal.
Chapman (32-16) responded with a crooked number of their own in the
sixth. Down by one, IF Halston Barcelo walked to
lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Hadzinsky allowed Lehman
to single home Barcelo, good for a tie game and for his second RBI
of the day. Later in the sixth, OF Ryan Prechtl's
two out, two-run homer gave his team a 6-4 lead, which they would
never relinquish.
Lehman, Semel, and Hadzinsky all finished the game with three
hits going a combined 9-for-11. Lehman collected enough RBIs (3)
for the three of them to split.
Chapman will face Wooster College (Ohio)at 3:30 p.m. CST
tomorrow in their third elimination game of the weekend. The Scots
are the tournament's only unbeaten team and have already clinched a
berth in the national championship game on Tuesday thanks to a 3-0
win over St. Thomas (Minn.) on Sunday.
Box Score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/bsb/2008-09/stats/cu-ku.htm
