Cedar Rapids, Iowa (6/2/2019) –Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) advanced to the championship series while Chapman University (Calif.) and the University of Massachusetts-Boston still have unsettled business in the opposite bracket after the third day of NCAA Division III baseball’s College World Series Sunday at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Chapman dug an early hole but took advantage of four Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) errors to survive 8-4 in Sunday’s first elimination game. Washington & Jefferson (38-13) struck for a 3-run second inning highlighted by Mullen Socha’s 2-run triple. But Chapman crossed the plate in five of nine innings as Alex Tsuruda and Brad Shimabuku each had two hits and two RBIs. Cody Turner (5-2) got the win with four innings of one-hit relief. Nick Garcia notched his 11th save.
Johns Hopkins pounded out 15 hits but had to scramble to hold off Babson University (Mass.) 6-5. Babson (39-10) countered with 12 hits, scored once in the ninth and had the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position. But reliever Josh Hejka nailed down his seventh save just 48 hours after throwing 152 pitches as the starter in a 3-2 Johns Hopkins win, also against Babson. Sunday’s starter Sean McCracken (8-2) allowed three earned runs in seven innings. Mike Eberle, Chris Festa and AJ King each had three hits for the Blue Jays, with Festa’s ninth-inning single driving home a critical insurance tally.
Chapman (41-12) had to go 10 innings to notch its second 8-4 win of the day, this time over the University of Massachusetts-Boston, forcing a Monday rematch in the bracket finale. Aaron Wong knocked in two runs in a 4-run 10th for the Panthers to make a winner of ace closer Garcia (9-0), who threw three innings of shutout relief. Chapman fanned eight hitters, raising its season total to a Division III record 507, eclipsing the 1998 mark of 502 by North Carolina Wesleyan. Henry Zeisler had three of Chapman’s 11 hits. Mass.-Boston (37-13), winner of two previous tourney games, including a 10-6 triumph over Chapman Saturday, had tied the game 4-4 with two runs in the sixth inning when Nico Kydes had one of his two RBI hits. But the Beacons were undone by four errors.
Birmingham-Southern (41-13) pounced on a weary Johns Hopkins pitching staff with a boisterous 5-run first inning, erupted for five more in the fourth inning and roared to a 15-4 victory. The Panthers bolted out of their bracket with a 3-0 mark in their first World Series appearance. The Panthers racked up 15 hits, including three by Tyler Wise, who also walked and scored three runs. Nate Davis had three hits for Johns Hopkins (37-13).
