CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – Sophomore Andrew Kerr's first collegiate homer put the exclamation point on a banner day for The College of Wooster baseball team, which is now set to play for the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title on Saturday against Denison University at VA Memorial Stadium. Wooster sent Wabash College home 10-2, then took its first lead in the ninth inning of a 3-2 nightcap triumph over Wittenberg University.
Wooster (24-16-1), which is making its 22nd championship round or championship series appearance since the league tournament started in 1991, now faces No. 3 Denison University (34-5) on Saturday at 11 a.m. Wooster must knock off Denison twice to earn a conference-best 14th tournament title.
Kerr drilled a 2-2 offering from Tommy Chilicki down the right field line for the go-ahead round-tripper. In the bottom of the ninth, first-year shortstop Luke Rizzo made a spectacular play on a sharp grounder in the hole. Rizzo's throw, plus the scoop by junior first baseman Ryan Kramer, were just in time to beat Wittenberg's Alex Nemunaitis to the bag for the final out. Earlier in the inning, sophomore Constantine Vernadakis struck out Quintin Applegate and Rizzo had no problem handling a Thatcher Dietz grounder that was sent his way. The Tigers did get a two-out baserunner, as James MacAuley ripped a double into the alley in left center that was just out of the reach of a diving Nick Pett.
Wooster tied the Wittenberg game in the eighth when senior center fielder Ben Carroll drew a bases-loaded walk. Two walks, plus a Kramer single, loaded the bases full of Fighting Scots for Carroll. Wooster's other run in the nightcap came in the fifth when Carroll scored on a Wittenberg fielding error on senior right fielder Alex Gerdenich's sacrifice bunt.
Wittenberg took the 1-0 lead on Nemunaitis' sacrifice fly and led 2-0 in the fourth on Parker Gryskevich's sacrifice fly.
Vernadakis moved his record to 4-1 with 1 2/3 innings of one-hit shutout relief. Chilicki fell to 1-1 after allowing a run on a hit in 1 2/3 innings.
Wooster, which outhit Wittenberg 9-7, was led by a 2-for-3 showing by Gerdenich and a 2-for-4 game from Kramer.
MacAuley had three of Wittenberg's seven hits out of the nine spot in the lineup.
Earlier in the day, Wooster jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Wabash in the second inning. Rizzo scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch, then Gerdenich followed with a two-run single to center. Sophomore designated hitter Tamlin Ferguson's RBI ground out made it 4-0.
The four runs were plenty of support for junior Jack Spring (5-3), who went the distance for the Scots. The junior allowed two runs on five hits and struck out four. He needed just 89 pitches in the complete-game effort. Fifty-nine of Spring's 89 pitches went for strikes and he allowed just one walk.
Wabash halved Wooster's lead when DJ Mendez mashed a two-run homer to left in the fifth inning, but Wooster answered right back with a two-spot in the sixth. Ferguson's two-run double plated first-year second baseman Maanav Bhatt and Gerdenich, who reached on a walk and sacrifice bunt-turned-error, respectively. Wooster added to its lead on Rizzo's two-run homer in the seventh that made it 8-2, while the shortstop made it a four-RBI game with a two-run double to right in the ninth.
Rizzo finished the Wabash game 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. He was a triple shy of having the program's second cycle of the year.
Will Phillips had two of Wabash's five hits.
Denison advanced to the championship round with a 6-2 win over Wittenberg. Nick Falter improved to 10-0 after holding Wittenberg to a run on three hits in six innings. Alex Vasquez had three RBI for the Big Red.
Wooster will be looking to snap Denison's run of tournament titles at five.
