Horizon League Baseball Championship – Day 3
(2) Wright State 8, (1) UIC 5
(3) Milwaukee 5, (1) UIC 4 (12 innings) – Milwaukee eliminated
WHITING, Ind. – And then there were two. After rallying in the ninth inning, Wright State secured its place in the Horizon League Baseball Championship, where the Raiders will meet Milwaukee, winners in the elimination game in 12 innings Friday evening.
(2) Wright State 8, (1) UIC 5
In a game that felt like the equivalent of tightrope walking, it was Wright State that made it across the line first – and in dramatic fashion – scoring four runs in the ninth inning to get past UIC, 8-5, in a winner’s bracket matchup.
Wright State (40-14) will have two opportunities should it need it to win the baseball title, advancing to the championship undefeated.
The Raiders were nearly in the opposite place – needing to win three games in two days – until rallying in the ninth.
Trailing 5-4 and facing Second Team All-Horizon League closer Ryan Hinchley, Mark Fowler led off the frame by sending a fastball back up the middle for a single. After a ground out advanced Fowler to second, Gabe Snyder walked to put the go-ahead run on first.
With Mitch Roman at the plate, Hinchley would uncork two wild pitches, allowing pinch-runner Derreck Garcia to slide home with the tying run. Roman would strike out for the inning’s second out, but Jason DeFevers was hit by a slider on the foot, bringing Ryan Fucci to the plate.
On a 1-1 offering, Fucci unloaded, as the right-hander launched a no-doubt home run to left-center field and put the Raiders up 8-5.
All-League closer Andrew Elliott came on and set UIC (29-21-1) down for his 11th save of the season.
UIC held the lead most of the afternoon, jumping on top with two runs in the first. Jeff Boehm put the Flames in front with a single to right center to plate Zenon Kolakowski before a Mickey McDonald ground out brought Tyler Detmer across.
Wright State would tie the game with single runs in the second and fifth innings before Boehm struck again in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Boehm hit a laser to the wall in center, missing a home run by a few feet but driving in two to make it 4-2, UIC.
A Drew Cronin RBI single in the sixth closed the scoring for the Flames and gave them a 5-2 edge with nine outs to go.
In the seventh, Timm singled in front of Boehm in left to bring in Sean Murphy and cut the deficit to 5-3 and send Fowler to third. Roman’s sac fly to right allowed Fowler to score easily, bringing the Raiders within 5-4 and setting the stage for the ninth inning drama.
With 1.2 innings of work, E.J. Trapino collected the win for Wright State, his second in as many tournament games.
Game 7: (3) Milwaukee 5, UIC 4 (12 innings) – UIC eliminated
As one would expect, the first extra-inning game of the 2015 Horizon League Baseball Championship delivered plenty of drama, with Milwaukee using two squeeze bunts in the 12th inning to get past top-seeded UIC, 5-4.
Milwaukee (38-19) reached the championship round with two runs in the top of the 12th. Mitch Ghelfi led off by reaching on a throwing error before moving to second when Mike Porcaro was hit by a pitch.
Eric Solberg sacrificed to put runners at second and third before Tell Taylor walked to load the bases.
The Panthers reached deep into the playbook, as Dalton Varsho successfully executed a squeeze bunt to plate Ghelfi. The very next pitch would see Ryan McShane put down a safety squeeze to drive in Porcaro with a vital insurance run.
UIC (29-22-1) would bring Alex Lee around after a double in the bottom of the 12th, but All-League closer Cody Peterson struck out David Cronin to end the game and cap 4.0 innings in relief of starter Austin Schulfer.
The Flames would take an early lead for the third time in as many tournament games, as Mickey McDonald came home a wild pitch from Schulfer in the bottom of the second.
Milwaukee would take its lone lead of the game in the fourth, as Dalton Varsho inside-outed a pitch to left with two outs. The carom off the 25-foot wall allowed Tell Taylor and Nick Unes to come home.
UIC immediately responded in its half of the fourth on Conor Philbin’s first hit of the game. The single back through the middle pushed Jeff Boehm and McDonald across and gave the Flames a 3-2 lead.
Schulfer would settle from there, retiring 12 straight UIC batters into the ninth and giving Milwaukee a chance to rally in latter stages of the game. The freshman finished with eight-plus innings pitched, allowing six hits and three runs.
The Panthers would do just that in seventh against UIC starter Ian Lewandowski. Milwaukee loaded the bases with one out and Mitch Ghelfi battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk and force in the tying run.
Both teams would leave the bases loaded in their ninth inning trips to the plate, sending the game to extra innings.
