The Misericordia offense woke up too late in the first game Thursday at the Division III Baseball World Series on Thursday. The Cougars, though, carried over that late-game momentum into the second game.
Misericordia pounded out six hits in scoring seven runs in the first inning as the Cougars captured the national title with a 10-5 victory over Wisconsin-Whitewater for a 2-1 series win at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.
The victory gave Misericordia (44-11) its first national championship and was the 600th career victory for coach Pete Egbert. It also came after a 16-10 loss earlier in the day to Whitewater (45-12), a game where the Cougars fell behind 12-1.
Misericordia’s Garrett McIlhenney was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the first as the Cougars sent 12 batters to the plate against three Whitewater pitchers.
Brock Bollinger, Owen Cordner and McIlhenney all had RBI doubles in the first. Jason Sanfilippo had an RBI single. Gabe Bunn had the biggest hit, a bases-loaded triple he dropped in just inside the right-field foul line.
Misericordia increased its lead to 9-0 in the third. Bunn singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cordner. McIlhenney’s grounder was then misplayed, allowing Bunn to score. Jack Regenye singled to send McIlhenney to third. Regenye then got in a rundown, allowing McIlhenney to score.
Whitewater cut the deficit to 9-2 in the fourth as Andy Thies, who had two home runs in the opener, hit an RBI double to deep center field and another run scored on a groundout.
Misericordia got a run back in the fifth. Bunn singled up the middle, moved to second on a sac bunt and scored on two balks.
Whitewater had a base runner in the sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t get either past first base.
The Warhawks finally did in the eighth as consecutive one-out singles by Adam Cootway and Danny Hopper put runners on the corners. A double steal allowed Cootway to score from third.
Hopper then stole third and scored when the throw went into left field to cut the deficit to 10-4. An RBI double by Sam Paden made it 10-5 and ended the day for Misericordia starter Connor Maryniak after 7.1 innings.
Reliever Matt Lanzendorfer, a Scranton Prep grad who got the win in Game 1 on Tuesday night, took over and got a strikeout and flyout to end the inning. He faced the top of the order in the ninth and retired Whitewater in order.
In the first game Thursday, Whitewater used a five-run second inning to take control. Eli Frank followed Matt Scolan’s two-run single with a two-run home run. Thies homered in the third to make it 7-1. The Warhawks finished with five home runs.
The lead swelled to 12-1 before Misericordia made some inroads. The Cougars cut the deficit to 12-8 in the top of the eighth, but Whitewater answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Regenye finished with four RBI for Misericordia, which had 16 hits. Whitewater had 19 hits.
Misericordia announced a welcome home rally for the team at 11 a.m. Friday on campus at Tambur Field. The public is welcome to join the celebration along with university students, staff, faculty, alumni and their families.
