Tusculum Edges Carson-Newman; Catawba Tops Florida Tech In NCAA DII South Region Baseball Tournament

May 15, 2008

TAMPA --- Matt Webb's walk-off single in the ninth inning sparked No. 2 seed Tusculum to an 8-7 win over fifth-seeded Carson-Newman in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Division II South Regional Baseball Tournament Thursday afternoon. The six-team, double-elimination tournament is being held on the campus of the University of Tampa.

The Pioneers (41-13) will play Catawba on Friday night at 7 p.m., while Carson-Newman (41-17) will play No. 6 seed Stillman in an 11 a.m. elimination game Friday morning.

Webb's single capped a crazy up and down game between the South Atlantic Conference rivals, who were playing for the fifth time this season. C-N led by two runs on two separate occasions early, but Tusculum rallied with a pair of runs in the fourth inning, thanks to a two-run blast by Webb to tie the game at 3-3.

After Carson-Newman regained the lead with a run in the top of the fifth, Tusculum plated four runs in the bottom of the frame, including a two-run double by South Region Player of the Year Maikol Gonzalez as TC led for the first time on the day, 5-4. Tusculum added two more tallies in the inning on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Webb and Sean Cotten for a 7-4 Pioneer advantage.

Tusculum was in position to widen the lead in the seventh inning when Carlos Rivera led off with his 12th double of the season and later moved to third on a Gonzalez bunt single. After Gonzalez stole second to put two runners in scoring positions with no outs, Webb grounded a dribbler up the first base line and was out at the bag. But on the play, Gonzalez wandered off the bag at second and was tagged for the second out of the inning. Cotten flied out to end the inning as the Eagles stayed in striking distance.

C-N wasted little time, as Mills Rogers reached second on a two-base error to lead off the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Wesley Dozier moved Rogers over to third with his infield single, placing runners on the corners. Tyler Wynn sent a liner to left field, which averted the diving Christian Rosa and rolled all the way to the wall for a two-run triple. With the tying run 90-feet away, reliever Mat Galens came aboard and got Jonathan McMahon to fly out in foul territory in shallow right field and followed with a strikeout of Langdon Potts. During Jason Gray's at-bat, Wynn scored the tying run on a passed ball to knot the game at 7-7.

The Eagles mounted a rally in the top of the ninth as Derek Long drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by All-Region outfielder Nick Achberger. After Corey Lamson walked, both C-N runners would move into scoring position on ground out. Galens got out of the jam striking out Dozier to end the inning.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Rosa was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Rivera singled up the middle as Rosa slid into third with the game-winning run. On the play, Rivera moved to second on the throw. It was déjà vu scenario for Tusculum and Carson-Newman. In the second game of a Mar. 22nd doubleheader earlier this season, a similar situation occurred. With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 12th inning, the Pioneers had a runners in scoring position with runners at second and third and one out against the Eagles. With first base open, C-N elected to intentionally walk Gonzalez to get to Webb. In that game, Webb singled in the game-winning run for a 3-2 TC victory.

The Eagles elected to walk Gonzalez and Webb answered again with a walk-off single down the left field line to score Rosa for the win.

Webb finished the game going 2-for-4 with four RBI, including his fifth home run of the season. Gonzalez went 3-for-4, including his 102nd hit of the year, establishing a new school and conference record, breaking the previous season-best of 101 by Rivera in 2007. Gonzalez tallied another single-season mark with his 30th stolen base, breaking the record 29 set by Rosa last year.

Rivera also posted a 3-for-5 day, while Aaron Hudgins with 3-for-4 with a RBI.

Tusculum tallied 13 hits, while the Eagles finished with 10, including two hits each by Wynn and McMahon.

Galens picked up the win in relief as he tossed two shutout innings, walking two and striking out a pair to improve to 4-1 on the year. C-N reliever Corbin Ariail suffered the loss to fall to 3-5 on the season.

The game was slated to be a pitchers' dual between two All-South Region First Team standouts in C-N's Brett Hontz (11-1) and TC's Boo Morrow (7-0). Hontz, the Region and SAC Pitcher of the Year went four innings as he allowed seven hits, seven runs and struck out three, while Morrow's line including 4 1/3 innings, eight hits, four runs, two earned, two walks and a strikeout.

The Pioneers have won four straight over their in-state rivals and have won their last three NCAA Tournament openers.

The Automated ScoreBook
Carson-Newman vs #13 Tusculum
05/15/2008 at Tampa, Fla. (UT Baseball Field)

Carson-Newman 7 (41-17) Tusculum 8 (41-13)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Langdon Potts 2b........... 5 0 1 0 C.Rosa lf.................. 3 2 0 0
Jason Gray cf.............. 4 1 1 1 C.Rivera cf................ 5 1 2 0
Derek Long 1b.............. 3 1 1 0 M.Gonzalez 2b.............. 4 2 3 2
Nick Achberger lf.......... 4 1 1 0 M.Webb rf.................. 4 1 2 4
Corey Lamson dh............ 3 0 0 0 S.Cotten 1b................ 3 0 1 1
Mills Rogers ss............ 4 1 1 2 P.Finger 3b................ 3 0 0 0
Cory McGinnis 3b........... 3 0 0 0 P.Houser dh................ 4 1 1 0
Wesley Dozier ph/3b....... 2 1 1 0 M.Hyndsman c............... 3 0 0 0
Tyler Wynn rf.............. 4 2 2 2 A.Hudgins ss............... 4 1 3 1
Jonathan McMahon c......... 4 0 2 0 B.Morrow p................. 0 0 0 0
Brett Hontz p.............. 0 0 0 0 C.Ortiz p................. 0 0 0 0
Michael Elliot p.......... 0 0 0 0 M.Galens p................ 0 0 0 0
Corbin Arial p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 36 7 10 5 Totals..................... 33 8 12 8

Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Carson-Newman....... 002 110 030 - 7 10 0
Tusculum............ 001 240 001 - 8 12 4
-------------------------------------------

Note: 1 out, 3 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - M.Gonzalez(9); A.Hudgins 3(17). DP - CNC 1. LOB - CNC 9; Tusculum 7. 2B -
Potts(14); Rogers(9); C.Rivera(12); M.Gonzalez(21). 3B - Wynn(3). HR - M.Webb(5).
HBP - C.Rosa 2. SH - Gray(6); Achberger(2); Lamson(1); P.Finger(5); M.Hyndsman(2).
SF - M.Webb(2); S.Cotten(4). SB - Gray(31); M.Gonzalez(30); A.Hudgins(12). CS -
Gray(7).

Carson-Newman IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brett Hontz ............... 4.0 7 7 7 0 3 0 0 1 0 18 21 7 2
Michael Elliot ............ 4.0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 12 14 3 5
Corbin Arial L,3-5........ 0.1 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 3 5 0 0

Tusculum IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B.Morrow .................. 4.1 8 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 19 23 7 4
C.Ortiz ................... 2.2 2 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 12 12 3 4
M.Galens W,4-1............ 2.0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 5 8 1 3

WP - M.Galens(9). HBP - by Hontz (C.Rosa); by Arial (C.Rosa).
Strikeouts - Potts; Lamson 2; Dozier; C.Rosa; C.Rivera; M.Gonzalez; S.Cotten;
P.Finger; M.Hyndsman; A.Hudgins. Walks - Long 2; Lamson; Rogers; M.Gonzalez.
Umpires - HP: Joe Judkowitz 1B: Jeremy Parker 2B: Josh Reep 3B: Jeff Cox
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 3:09 Attendance: 280
Hontz faced 4 batters in the 5th.
C.Ortiz faced 3 batters in the 8th.

Catawba 5, Florida Tech 4

TAMPA, FL -- Senior David Thomas' (Winston-Salem, NC/Ledford HS) two-out, two-run doubled helped rally 17th-ranked Catawba defeated Florida Tech 5-4 in an opening round game of the 2008 NCAA II South Region Baseball Tournament. The Catawba Indians improve to 41-16 and will move on to face Tusculum on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Panthers fall to 35-19-1 and will play top-seeded Tampa on Friday afternoon in a must-win game to stay alive.

The Indians entered the bottom of the eight trailing 4-2, but Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, NC/E. Rowan HS) led off with a double. He moved to third on a ground ball and scored on a ground out by Chris Ahearn (Charlotte, NC/Providence HS) to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Bubba Morris (Spence, NC/N. Rowan HS) reached on an error to keep the inning alive and Matt Kepley (Greensboro, NC/Ragsdale HS) singled to get Thomas to the plate. After taking a ball, the senior sent the next pitch into the right-centerfield alley to drive in both runners to give Catawba the 5-4 lead.

Brett Hatley (Salisbury, NC/W. Rowan HS), who had tossed a scoreless eighth, retired the Panthers in order in the ninth to preserve the win. The sophomore improved his record to 5-1.

Catawba led early as Chad Baker (Jamestown, NC/Ragsdale HS) singled home Morris in the third for a 1-0 lead. Florida Tech answered in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by JD Davidson (Naples, FL) to tie the score. Lyerly led off the Catawba fourth with a solo homer, but again the Panthers answered, getting a RBI single by Michael Demma (Coral Springs, FL) in the fifth.

Florida Tech grabbed the lead in the sixth as Brendan Twomey (Boca Raton, FL) singled home the go-ahead run with two outs and a second run would score on an error. The scored stayed 4-2 until the Indians rallied in the eighth.

The Panthers had 16 hits of Tribe pitching, but left 11 runners on base. Fourteen of the hits were singles. Twomey, Ray Valdes (Naples, FL) and Chris Fox (Nassau, BAHAMAS) all picked up three hits for Florida Tech. Catawba collected just nine hits, three by Lyerly and two each by Thomas and Kepley.

2008 Catawba Baseball
Florida Tech vs #17 Catawba
05/15/2008 at Tampa, Fla. (UT Baseball Field)

Florida Tech 4 (35-19-1)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Nick Brennan cf.......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 2
Brendan Twomey rf........ 5 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
Mitch Saum 3b............ 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 1
Kevin Villa c............ 5 0 0 0 0 3 5 2 5
Michael Demma 1b......... 5 0 2 1 0 2 9 1 0
Sam Palace dh............ 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1
Ray Valdes 2b............ 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 4 0
JD Davidson ss........... 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 1
Chris Fox lf............. 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
Matt Schurig p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Eric Bua p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brett Backman p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 40 4 16 3 0 7 24 11 11

Catawba 5 (41-16)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
David Thomas cf.......... 3 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 0
Chad Baker 2b............ 4 0 1 1 1 2 3 3 1
Jerry Sands rf........... 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1
Ryan Query c............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 6
Craige Lyerly 3b......... 4 2 3 1 0 0 0 5 0
Brett Hatley dh/p........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Chris Ahearn ss.......... 4 0 1 1 0 1 2 2 1
Bubba Morris 1b.......... 2 1 0 0 2 1 10 0 0
Andrew O'Neal pr........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weston Church 1b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Matt Kepley lf........... 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
Blake Ketner p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Travis McSweeney p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tim Holmes p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 30 5 9 5 6 5 27 15 9

Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Florida Tech........ 000 112 000 - 4 16 2
Catawba............. 001 100 03X - 5 9 2
-------------------------------------------

E - Demma; Bua; C.Lyerly; C.Ahearn. DP - Fla. Tech 1; Catawba 1. LOB - Fla.
Tech 11; Catawba 9. 2B - Saum; Fox; D.Thomas; C.Lyerly. HR - C.Lyerly. HBP -
D.Thomas. SH - Brennan; M.Kepley. SF - Davidson. SB - Valdes; J.Sands;
C.Lyerly. CS - Demma; C.Ahearn.

Florida Tech IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Matt Schurig........ 6.2 6 2 2 5 4 22 29 120
Eric Bua............ 1.0 2 3 1 1 0 6 7 20
Brett Backman....... 0.1 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 5

Catawba IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Blake Ketner........ 5.2 13 4 2 0 4 29 30 93
Travis McSweeney.... 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3
Tim Holmes.......... 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 4 4 19
Brett Hatley........ 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 6 7 26

Win - B.Hatley (5-1). Loss - Bua (0-1). Save - None.
HBP - by Schurig (D.Thomas). BK - Schurig. Inherited runners/scored: Bua 2/0;
Backman 2/2; T.McSweeney 2/0. Pitches/strikes: Schurig 120/64; Bua 20/11;
Backman 5/4; B.Ketner 93/63; T.McSweeney 3/3; T.Holmes 19/13; B.Hatley 26/19.
Umpires - HP: Jamie Roebuck 1B: Jeff Cox 2B: Joe Judkowitz 3B: Olindo Mattia
Start: 7:00 pm Time: 2:45 Attendance: 127
Game: BB57