Tusculum Edges Florida Gulf Coast In NCAA Baseball Regional

Tusculum Edges Florida Gulf Coast In NCAA Baseball Regional
May 18, 2007

TAMPA -- Carlos Rivera went 5-for-5 and Ben Swaggerty recorded his second save in as many days as the Tusculum College baseball team edged Florida Gulf Coast University 7-6 Friday night in day two action of the 2007 NCAA Division II South Regional. The six-team, double-elimination tournament is being hosted by the University of Tampa at the UT Baseball Field.

Tusculum (50-12), ranked No. 10 in the country and the second-seeded squad in the regional, advances to Saturday's winners' bracket final against top-ranked Tampa, beginning at 11 a.m. FGCU will face No. 17 Florida Southern College in an elimination game.

The contest saw four ties and two lead changes, including the last in the sixth inning as the Pioneers rallied from a 6-5 deficit with a pair of runs, including a sacrifice fly by Maikol Gonzalez and a RBI groundout by Matt Webb.

Mat Galens (4-1), who relieved TC starter Kevin Hammons in the fourth inning, picked up the win in relief as he went 3.2 innings, allowed two hits, a run, walked two and struck out two. Swaggerty pitched the final two innings as he scattered two hits and struck out three, including two in the final frame for his team-leading sixth save of the year. During the tournament, Swaggerty has posted 11 strikeouts in his five total innings of relief.

Rivera posted three singles and a pair of doubles as he has accounted for 100 hits this year. He also scored three times and drove in another.

Rivera led off the game with a double and later scored on a RBI single by Gonzalez, the first of his two hits on the night. The Eagles (40-16) tied the game in the first as Josh Upchurch led off with a single, moved to second on a hit and later scored on Ozzie Borrell's ground out.

TC regained the lead in the second inning as Aaron Porter drew a one-out walk and later crossed the plate on Rivera second consecutive double. FGCU tied the game again in the bottom of the second when Derek Mollica drew a lead-off walk, moved to third on a Jason Peacock single and scored on Chris Alessandria's squeeze bunt.

Tusculum regained the lead with two runs in the third as Gonzalez, Webb and Dustin Morrow led off with consecutive singles, including Morrow's RBI looper to score Gonzalez. Paul Finger would drive in the second run of the inning with a ground out.

TC increased its lead to 5-2 as Rivera singled with two outs and moved to third on back-to-back walks to Rosa and Gonzalez. Rivera would plate the fifth run of the night thanks to a wild pitch.

But that lead would be short lived as the Eagles plated three runs in the fourth and took their first lead with a tally in the fifth to move ahead 6-5. In the sixth, Eric Barclay drew a lead-off walk, while Rivera singled and Rosa walked to load the bases for Gonzalez. J.J. Crumbley came aboard to relieve Pete Woodworth and surrendered a deep fly ball down the right field line as Barclay scored and Rivera and Rosa moved up 90-feet. Webb scored Rivera from third with his ground out to give the Pioneers the lead again at 7-6, setting the table for the late-game pitching gems by Galens and Swaggerty.

Tusculum 7, Florida Gulf Coast 6 (05/18/07 at Tampa, Fla)
NCAA Division II South Regional
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Tusculum............ 112 102 000 - 7 10 0 (50-12)
Florida Gulf Coast.. 110 310 000 - 6 10 0 (40-16)
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DP - Tusculum 1; Gulf Coast 2. LOB - Tusculum 7; Gulf Coast 12. 2B - C. Rivera 2. 3B - Scarduzio. HBP - Alessandria. SH - Scarduzio; Alessandria
2. SF - Maikol Gonzalez; Borrell. SB - C. Rivera; Borrell.
Pitchers: Tusculum - Kevin Hammons; Mat Galens(4); Ben Swaggerty(8). Florida Gulf Coast - Bleier; Ken Woodworth(4); J.J. Crumbley(6). Win-Mat Galens(4-1) Save-Ben Swaggerty(6) Loss-Ken Woodworth(4-2)
T-3:10 A-129
Woodworth faced 3 batters in the 6th.

Tampa 6, Carson-Newman 4

TAMPA, Fla.-- The NCAA Championship run came to an end for the 2007 Carson-Newman Eagles after falling 6-4 to top-ranked and top-seeded Tampa, 6-4 in the NCAA Division II South Regional Friday afternoon.

The Eagles (36-20) gave the Spartans all they could handle and drew first blood after Nick Achberger's sacrifice fly scored Langdon Potts for a 1-0 Eagle lead. However, the Spartans rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning when Jose Jimenez cracked a three-run homerun off C-N starter Cole Draughn (6-2) for a 4-1 Tampa advantage.

Carson-Newman would cut the deficit in the third inning, After Brandon Burchfield and Potts hit back-to-back singles, Jason Gray walked and Tyler Wynn was hit by a Scott Chapman pitch to drive in Burchfield to put the Eagles within two runs at 4-2. Tampa added their fifth run on a solo homerun by Craig Carrado for a 5-2 Spartan lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.

In the seventh, the Eagles rallied for two runs. Potts walked and Nick Achberger reached second on a throwing error by Jimenez to put Potts at third with no outs. An RBI groundout by Adam Kefauver plated Potts to put C-N within two runs again at 5-3. Jason Gray hit a seeing-eye single to score Achberger to put the Eagles in striking distance at 5-4.

Tampa struck back in the top of the eighth inning on a pinch-hit solo homer by Charlie Raley. Spartan reliever Jonathan Holt notched his 18th save by retiring eight of the last 10 Eagle batters. Kefauver hit a one-out double in the ninth, but Holt was able to strike out Gray and force Jim Doran into a game-ending groundout.

Steve Cishek pitched 3 2/3 innings in relief of Draughn, giving up one earned run and striking out four. Senior Mark Caroll gave up just two hits, one earned run, and struck out one in his final appearance for Carson-Newman.

Tampa 6, Carson-Newman 4 (05/18/07 at Tampa, Fla.)
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Carson-Newman....... 101 000 200 - 4 11 3 (36-20)
Tampa............... 400 010 01X - 6 11 2 (47-9)
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Pitchers: Carson-Newman - Cole Draughn; Steve Cishek(4); Mark Carroll(8). Tampa - Scott Chapman; Scott Leffler(7); Jonathan Holt(7). Win-Scott Chapman(7-0) Save-Jonathan Holt(18) Loss-Cole Draughn(6-2) T-2:38 A-196
HR UTB - Craig Corrado; Jose Jimenez; Charlie Raley.