"In Division III especially, if you don't beat yourself, you're going to win a lot of ballgames."
That's how St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning put it late Saturday night after his Tommies turned three double plays and played error-free baseball
in beating Shenandoah 16-5.
Photo gallery.
The Tommies continue on to face fellow unbeaten Wooster, which
crushed Kean 14-1 in Saturday's other winner's bracket game.
Photo gallery.
The Tommies chased Hornets starter Josh Simons after the first three batters reached in the third inning, then opened up a 16-2 lead after six innings before coasting the rest of the way.
Mark Miller threw seven shutout innings in Wooster's win and Stu Beath, Zack Vesco and Shane Swearingen had three hits apiece for the Scots.
Division III baseball hasn't had a repeat champion in 30 years, and we'll have to wait at least one more year before we see another.
Trinity (Conn.) saw its title defense end the same way Kean's did in 2008 and the same way Marietta's did in 2007, with a two-and-out.
The Bantams gave up eight runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-1 loss to Carthage in a Saturday morning elimination game at Time Warner Cable Field in Grand Chute, Wis.
Photo gallery.
The Red Men broke open a pitcher's duel in the bottom of the seventh inning when first baseman greeted reliever James Ramsey's first pitch by sending it over the right field fence for a grand slam. Before that hit, it had been a pitcher's duel, with each team stranding a lot of runners before Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Farmingdale State was also eliminated from the championships on Saturday, as the Rams fell to Chapman 4-2. Matt Irsfeld threw a complete game, striking out seven.
Photo gallery.
Championships toolbar: D3baseball.com All-American team | Live scores, video for Friday | Saturday's schedule | Jim Dixon's Championships preview
Live video for all championship round games is available through NCAA.com, and we'll have links for you for Saturday's games on
the D3baseball.com scoreboard.
If you're unable to watch, we have links to live stats, audio when available, and updated scores. Jim Dixon and the D3baseball.com crew are also blogging on the
Daily Dose during the games, for you to follow and comment. And we'll have postgame coverage as well.