Cedar Rapids, Iowa (6/1/2019) – The University of Massachusetts-Boston and Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) stayed perfect within their respective brackets while Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) and Babson University (Mass.) staved off elimination with Saturday victories on the second day of NCAA Division III baseball’s College World Series Saturday at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Washington & Jefferson (38-12) was outhit by Webster University (Mo.) 10-4 but made three early runs stand up for a 3-2 victory. Mullen Socha had two of the Presidents’ four hits and also walked. Adam Moore’s 2-run single highlighted the first inning. Starter Nick Drake (5-2) scattered eight hits over 5.1 innings and Clay Martin closed it out with two innings of scoreless relief for his school-record 12th save. Webster bows out of the tourney at 37-13.
Mass.-Boston (37-12) launched a surprise assault on Chapman University (Calif.) ace Tyler Peck, the school strikeouts-record holder and knocked off the Panthers 10-6. Mass.-Boston erupted for six runs on four hits and three walks in the first two innings. The Beacons stretched the lead to 9-2 after three frames before Chapman (39-12) began chipping away. Mass.-Boston had to call on closer Bobby Tramondozzi to secure the final out for his 13th save. Nick Cotraro had three hits and a walk for Mass.-Boston, now 2-0 in the tourney.
Jubilation and heartbreak prevailed in the third game as Jake Olinger’s two-out 2-run single capped a 5-run ninth-inning Babson (39-9) explosion for a 6-5 walk-off shocker over Heidelberg College (Ohio). It was a crushing end to the season for Heidelberg (35-15), which had pushed its lead to 5-1 with two ninth-inning runs. Oliger had three hits for Babson while catcher Marc Ochoa had three for the Student Princes, who also got a catch for the ages from Robert Hunt, who went airborne while laying out in center field to snatch a drive over his head.
The drama continued in the night’s final contest as Birmingham-Southern (41-13) rallied for a 4-3, 10-inning walk-off victory over Johns Hopkins University (Md.). Rich Masischia scampered home with the winner on a close play at the plate following a hard grounder to shortstop. Chris Festa’s first-inning home run was a Division III-leading 82nd for Johns Hopkins (36-12), which carried a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning. Cole Steadman doubled and scored the tying run for Birmingham Southern in the eighth inning. Alfredo Granier had three hits for the Panthers.
