Johns Hopkins handed Trinity (Conn.) its first loss of the season and now it is winner-take-all in order to bring home the Walnut and Bronze. The Blue Jays (42-7) took the lead in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch-strikeout. Tim Kiely, the Bantams' ace, covered the plate but was late getting the tag down and Johns Hopkins took a 4-3 lead. The Blue Jays would get a 1-2-3 inning to force the first 15th game in four years.

Trinity got their first run in the first inning. Ryan Piacentini singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jonas Fester's error put runners on the corner and Kent Graham's double to left field plated Piacentini.

Johns Hopkins would tie the game in the second. Todd Emr singled to shortstop and was erased on a Tony Margve fielder's choice. Margve moved to second when Solomon walked, just the third walk all season for Tim Kiely. Matt Benchener singled with two outs to bring home Margve.

Johns Hopkins added to their lead in the third. Two fielding errors put Jonas Fester and Rob Pietroforte first and second. Emr's single would give Johns Hopkins the 2-1 lead.

Trinity would take the lead on Sean Killeen's double to left center, driving in Piacentini and Jack Abbott. The lead was short-lived as Magvre, Johns Hopkins's catcher, would score his second run of the game on Benchener's single. The score would remain the same until the ninth inning.

A total of 38 hits between Johns Hopkins and UW-Whitewater thrilled the fans in attendance at Monday's NCAA Division III Championship second game. Jonas Fester's single down the middle gave the Blue Jays a 12-11 victory in the game that see-sawed from the start.

With the score knotted at 11-11, Jonas Fester's bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth brought home Chris Huisman for the winning run, as Johns Hopkins survived five lead changes.

"It was so much in so little time," said UW-Whitewater Head Coach John Vodenlich.

Johns Hopkins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Fester led off with a single, moved to second on a ground out and then scored on Todd Emr’s single. UW-Whitewater tied it in the top of the second when Kevin Zalnis blasted a lead-off homer.

The Blue Jays took the lead back in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs. Fester doubled to start the inning, and Brian Youchak followed with a single. After a hit batsman loaded the bases, Emr grounded into a double play to Fester. Tony Margve’s infield single then scored Youchak to put the Blue Jays up 3-1.

Whitewater came right back in the top of the fourth to take the lead back. Zalnis got things started with a one-out triple, and Ben Prather followed with a single to drive him in. Two batters later, Munn connected for a two-run homer to give the Warhawks a 4-3 edge.

The lead didn’t last long, as Johns Hopkins struck back for three runs in its half of the fourth. Huisman walked to start the frame, and Matt Benchener then smacked a triple to tie the game at 4-4. Adelman followed with a single to score Benchener, and Fester then singled to put runners at first and third. Youchak hit into a double play, and Adelman scored to put the Blue Jays up 6-4.

Whitewater rallied again in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 6-6 with the help of the sun and a pair of infield singles. A one-out single by Kuhlmann was followed by a strikeout. Fester couldn’t get an out on pinch-hitter Tom Corcoran’s ground ball to bring Zalnis to the plate. He hit a soft liner at Benchener at first, but he lost it in the sun, and Kuhlmann scored to cut the lead to 6-5. Prather followed with an infield single to score Corcoran and the game was tied again.

Johns Hopkins grabbed a 9-6 lead after it scored three times in the bottom of the sixth. The Blue Jays had runners at the corners with one out when Youchak’s infield single scored Adelman to put Johns Hopkins up 7-6. Pietroforte followed with a two-run double for a 9-6 edge.

Whitewater came right back in the top of the seventh to score three times and tie the game at 9-9. The Warhawks were helped out by a pair of infield singles, and Munn delivered the big blow with a three-run triple.

In its half of the seventh, the Blue Jays took the lead right back. A single and hit batsman put a pair of runners aboard, and Fester delivered a two-run single two batters later to give Johns Hopkins an 11-9 lead.

Whitewater rallied in its half of the eighth to tie the contest again. Kuhlmann doubled to start the inning and scored on Donovan’s single. Two batters later, Prather delivered a single to center and Donovan scored to tie the game at 11-11

It was tied 11-11 in the top of the ninth, and Joe Munn led off with a long fly ball to center field. Rob Pietroforte appeared to lose the ball in the sky near the wall and then recovered to make the catch for the first out.

"I knew it was hit well," said Johns Hopkins pitcher Matt Wiegand, who was on the mound at the time. "I knew it was way up, and I saw that he lost it, and oh God. I saw him recover and make the play."

Babb quickly interjected, "I know my heart stopped."

After giving up a hit batsman, Wiegand struck out the next two batters to set up some drama in the bottom of the ninth. Jon Solomon, who went 4-for-5 on the day, led off with a double and Chris Huisman was then intentionally walked. The Warhawks brought in ace Adam Dominick to face pinch-hitter Dan Merzel in a bunting situation.

"He’s our best bunter and I put (Merzel) in to bunt," Babb said. "If he can bunt one out of three, then I made a poor decision."

After fouling off two bunts, Merzel bunted one near the third-base line. The ball looked like it was going to roll foul but came to rest on the line – fair ball. "I thought it was a foul ball," Babb said. "When I saw it roll with the spin, but the one thing we’ve marveled at the whole time we’ve been here is the groundskeepers are fantastic. They are the only ones I’ve ever seen who do the line and then come back over it the second time so that the line is actually elevated a little bit. That may have been the difference."

Dominick was certain he had the out when he saw the bunt rolling. "Me and BJ (catcher Billy Johnson) were for sure it was going to go foul," Dominick said. "It was going straight there."

With the bases loaded and no one out, Nate Adelman grounded to third and Solomon was thrown out at the plate. Jonas Fester, who went 5-for-6, then hit an 0-2 pitch back up the middle to score Huisman with the winning run.

"I was just trying to stay aggressive," Fester said. "I knew if I hit the ball hard down on the ground somewhere hopefully it would get through. It was just a pitch that was up and didn’t have much break to it."

UW-Whitewater ends their season with a third place finish but their heads held high. "What is important is not who you win with but who you lose with," said Vodenlich. It is about character, playing with heart and how you work to get here."

UW-Whitewater held off the Adrian Bulldogs 13-11 in an elimination game at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Down by three runs with two men on in the ninth inning, Alex Cowart's drive to right field was caught at the fence.

"We were one swing away from being 13-13," said Head Coach Craig Rainey. "Cowart got a lot of that ball and unfortunately he hit it to the 405' part of the ball yard."

UW Whitewater (42-9) advances to play Johns Hopkins (40-7) in another elimination game today. Adrian, making its first appearance in the finals, finished with a 36-13 record.

Jeff Donovan and Greg Harder paced the Whitewater attack by both going 3-for-4. Donovan drove in four runs and Harder had three. Bobby Rickstad went 4-for-4 with four RBIs for Adrian.

Adrian started the scoring in the first. With two outs, Cowart doubled to right center and scored on a Rickstad home run to center field.

The Warhawks would tie the game in the second. Ben Prather opened with a single to center field. After Joe Munn walked and Billy Johnson was hit by the pitcher, Greg Harder singled in Prather and Munn. The inning would end on a infield fly rule double play. Ben Kuhlmann would be out on the pop up that eluded the second the second baseman, Steve Vanderheyden. Vanderheyden would recover and throw out Billy Johnson trying to advance to third base.

The Warhawks took the lead in the third and knocked out Adrian starter Josh Lancaster in the process. Jeff Donovan led off the third with a walk, and Thomas Corcoran followed with a single. Kevin Zalnis then singled to score Donovan and put Whitewater up 3-2. That was it for Lancaster, and Ryan Domschott came on in relief.

After a ground out, Jordan Stine singled to score Corcoran and Zalnis and give the Warhawks a 5-2 edge. Domschott got a strikeout and fly out to avoid further damage.

The Bulldogs tried to answer in the top of the fourth, but Greg Donovan struck out Todd Meyers with runners at second and third to end the inning.

Whitewater quickly built on its advantage in the bottom half of the inning, as Ben Kuhlmann singled to start the frame and Zalnis launched a two-out, two-run homer to center field to put the Warhawks up 7-2. Zalnis' round-tripper tied the Warhawk season record, now held with Brady Endl and Pat Tobiasz.

The Warhawks built the lead to 10-2 in the bottom of the fifth, as Whitewater struck for three more runs. Harder delivered a run-scoring single, Kuhlmann followed with a RBI double and Jeff Donovan followed that with a run-scoring single.

Just when it looked like the Warhawks had taken control, Adrian put together the biggest rally of the finals. Adrian scored seven times in the sixth and sent 11 men to the plate. The inning started with a fielding error by the Warhawks, and Jake Cappelletty followed with a run-scoring double. A single and a walk loaded the bases before Meyers singled to drive in another run. Nate Sarkissian's infield fly was then dropped, allowing Alexander Younce to score to trim the lead to 10-5. After a fly out, Rickstad and Steve Vanderheyeden had back-to-back run-scoring singles. Brian Bilius then launched a two-run triple to score Rickstad and Vanderheyden to trim the lead to 10-9.

"After the kean game we had eralier in this tournament, I had no doubt we could comeback," said Cowart. "I never expected a seven run inning, especially at the world series. It is tough to that but we believd in ourselves."

Whitewater answered back in the bottom half of the inning in a big way. Two-out singles by Harder and Kuhlmann brought Jeff Donovan to the plate, and he belted a long three-run homer to right field to give Whitewater a 13-9 edge.

Adrian got one run back in the eighth after Bilius reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Cappelletty's double to cut the lead to 13-10. Mike Jacobson, the fourth Whitewater pitcher of the contest, came on in relief to strike out Alexander Younce to end the threat.

Adrian still wasn't done. The Bulldogs got a one-out double from Meyers and Sarkissian was hit by a pitch. Rickstad lined a single to left to score Meyers to trim the margin to 13-11. Vanderheyden then hit one to the wall in right that was caught by Joe Munn for the final out.

Some games are decided by inches, some by feet. The big play in Trinity's 8-5 win was a ball that skipped over the fence by a couple of feet. In the eighth inning, Tony Margve hit a ball to the deepest part of the park and it skipped over the wall keeping Jon Solomon from scoring and depriving Margve of a game tying triple. "If that stays in the park you never know what happens," said Trinity Head Coach Bill Decker. Instead of a tie ball game Johns Hopkins finishes the inning a run down and never catches the Bantams.

With their victory tonight, Trinity will advance to the championship game on Tuesday and wait the winner of the elimination games on Monday. If they win, they will be the first D-III baseball team to finish the season undefeated. Johns Hopkins will play the winner between Adrain and UW-Whitewater in the late game.

"It is just one of those magical years," said Decker about the streak. "It was not one of our goals [to win all our games]. [Our goals] were to get through our conference tournament, get through a regional and try to have an opportunity to win a national championship". "This is what we have been working for all year ever since we came on campus in September," added Sean Killeen.

The game started much like Trinity's win yesterday, with a bang. Three consecutive singles by Jack Abbott, Ryan Piacentini, and Sean Killeen to start the game got Trinity their first run. After a ground out, a James Wood single plated two more Bantams.

Johns Hopkins would get one run back in the second. Todd Emr doubled to right field and scored on Tony Margve's single to center field.

The Bantams would stretch the lead to 5-1 with single runs in the third and fourth innings. Wood's home run in the third would account for one. In the fourth, Chandler Barnard would double and score when Nate Adelman bobbled Tim Bourdon's grounder.

Jon Solomon would singled to center field in the fifth inning and come around on Matt Benchener's double to cut the Bantams' lead to 5-2. Johns Hopkins would put runners on base in the next two inings but would be unable to add to the score. Trinity would add a run in the seventh when Killen would walk and score on Kent Graham's triple to right center.

Johns Hopkins rallied in the eighth for three runs. Brian Youchak walked, and with two outs the Blue jays would string four consecutive hits. Emr singled, then Jonas Fester singled bring in Youchak. Jon Solomon's single to center field would plate Emr. Tony Margve would hit a ground-rule double to the deepest part of the ball park to drive in Fester. Benchener would struck out leaving the go ahead run in scoring position.

Trinity would get some insurance in the bottom of the inning as Bourdon and Abbott would each drive in one run to bring the score to 8-5.

Monday will be a day of rest and a light workout before the Bantams return to Fox Cities Stadium on Tuesday to see if they can bring a walnut and bronze trophy back to Hartford, Conn.

Following a successful three year career as head baseball coach during a four year stint at Occidental, Elliott Strankman has resigned from his position to focus on other opportunities in baseball beginning with his second season in the Northwoods League as the Field Manager of the Green Bay Bullfrogs.

"We are grateful to Elliott for the role he played in helping to rebuild the baseball program at Occidental and we wish him the best in his future endeavors," said athletic director Jaime Hoffman. A national search for Strankman's successor will begin immediately. "I look forward to filling the position with someone who can lead Oxy baseball to the next level."

Under Strankman's leadership, the Tigers improved from just six wins in 2005, when he served as an assistant, to a pair of 15 win seasons in 2006 and 2007 culminating with 17 victories in 2008. The 17 wins this spring were more than any other squad has totaled in a single season during the last decade.

He coached four athletes, Matt Andersen, Adam Franks, Matthew Jones and Glenn Gray, to two All-SCIAC recognitions apiece. Gray was also named to the All-West Region Team in 2007.

Beyond the playing field, his dedication to the bettering the program led to renovations of Anderson Field and the Spencer Fieldhouse. The major upgrades carried out during his tenure included new fencing, grass, dirt and foul poles on the field itself as well as lockers and a complete facelift to the clubhouse, which now includes a state-of-the-art fitness center, creating one of the finest facilities in Division III baseball.

In the summer of 2007 Strankman led the Bullfrogs to the playoffs in their inaugural season, posting a 43-25 overall record (tops in the league). He was named the Manager of the Year and served as the Southern Division manager at the All-Star game. Previously, he spent three summers as an assistant coach for the Alaska Goldpanners in Fairbanks.

First baseman Jeff Donovan clubbed a three-run home for Whitewater to give the Warhawks a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth and Joe Munn's home run broke the back of Chapman in the eighth as UW-Whitewater defeated Chapman 7-4.

UW-Whitewater (41-9) will play the Linfield-Adrian winner on Monday. Chapman (40-5) ends their season. Kyle Redding ends his career with Chapman as the nineteenth player to appear in four championships. "[Four years ago] I was a little nervous and every year you get more comfortable," said Redding. "You try to help the younger guys in what to expect and what to anticipate. It is fun coming back here."

In the UW-Whitewater second, Munn was hit by the pitcher and advanced to second on a Billy Johnson single. Greg Harder would drive in Munn when he singled to center field.

Chapman would get the run back in their time at bat. Ryan Hall singled to right center and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Ryan Prechtl's single to center field would score Hall.

UW-Whitewater would get three runs in the fourth when Jeff Donovan slugged a three-run homerun over the center field wall.

Chapman would scratch out a run in the fifth with the help of two errors but the Warhawks would answer with one of their own on a Munn single to bring the score to 5-2.

In the eighth, Chapman would draw within a run. Prechtl singled through the right side and Kurt Yacko followed up with a double down the left field line, scoring Prechtl on an error by Ben Prather. Yacko would end up at third by a wild pitch and brought home on a sacrifice bunt by Stuart Hyman.

This is as close as the Panthers would get. Munn would take the first pitch he saw from Wadye Kitchens, who relived Jordon Sigman in the seventh, over the centerfield wall. The Warhawks would add an insurance run in the inning to complete the scoring.

Aaron Dott (7-1) gets the win and Jason Hooper got his first save of the year for the Warhawks. Sigman (10-2) took the loss for Chapman.

Trinity (Conn) used a four run fourth to pressure Linfield and Jeremiah Bayer kept the Wildcats off balance as Trinity moved one game closer to the national championship game. They will need to defeat Johns Hopkins to get a rest day on Monday and a spot in the national championship game. Linfield will meet Adrian in an elimination game.

The scoring started in the Trinity first. Jack Abbott reached on a fielding error by Shannon Chung. Ryan Piacentini then singled to left center. Sean Killeen the reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Abbott. Kent Graham followed with a home run to score Killeen. After a walk to Thomas DiBenedetto, Chandler Barnard singled to right field to score DiBenedetto.

Linfield cut the lead in half in the fourth. Drew Van Cleave bunted to third base and moved to second on Rhett Fenton infield single. After a walk to load the bases, Cory Ellis reached on a fielding error by Graham, scoring Fenton and Van Cleave.

The Bantans would get the runs back in the seventh. Matt Sullivan walked and was followed on base then Tim Bourdon hit by pitch. Evan Hilberg would replace Brian clark, the Linfield starter and allow a two-run single to Ryan Piacentini.

Rhett Fenton's three-run home run in the eighth, following two walks would cut the lead to a single run but the Wildcats would not be able to catch the streaking Bantams.