DECATUR, Ill. – The Baldwin Wallace University Baseball team defeated the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse by a final score of 5-4 with junior designated hitter Colin West (Westborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) hitting a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the team the win and continue on the winners' bracket of the NCAA Regionals.
"It's really cool to see the success of this team," West said. "My bus driver went down the line of mentioning people who were doing great things, and my name was not on there." "I wanted to be on that list," he said.
It was a game where the Yellow Jackets (33-10) played from behind for most of the contest, trailing from the top of the third inning until the bottom of the eighth inning. From the third inning until the swing by West, the Yellow Jackets only scored two runs.
Pitching was also a story for the Brown and Gold as junior right-hander Matt Moscarino (Strongsville/Padua Franciscan) went 7 ? innings, and Sam Hoffman (Mentor/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) finished the game by going 1 ? innings and allowing no runs as the team advances to the Championship Series without having to play a second game.
Scoring Summary
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Bottom 2nd – Junior second-basemen Carson Petrecca (Willowick/Eastlake North) got the scoring going for the Yellow Jackets with a solo home run to right field to take a 1-0 lead
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Bottom 5th – Senior shortstop Matt Terzola (Uniontown/Archbishop Hoban) hit a sacrifice lineout to the shortstop to make it a 4-2 game
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Bottom 5th – Senior third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St Edward) had an RBI double into left to cut the BW deficit to one run, 4-3 in favor of La Crosse
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Bottom 8th – Junior designated hitter Colin West (Westborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) hit an opposite-field go-ahead two-run homer to give the Yellow Jackets a 5-4 lead heading into the top half of the ninth
At the Plate
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Senior right-fielder John Panstares (Westlake/St Ignatius) was 2-for-3 while scoring one of the Yellow Jacket runs
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West was 2-for-4 with a two-run home run to give the Brown and Gold their first lead of the game since the top half of the third
On the Mound
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For the second straight day, starting pitching was impressive for the Yellow Jackets; this time by Moscarino, who went 7 ? innings, striking out four and issuing two walks on 101 pitches
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Hoffman went 1 ? innings and struck out one batter while allowing only one hit to shut down the Eagles and end the night
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets are back in action Tomorrow, May 17, where they will take on the winner of the La Crosse-Wartburg (Iowa) game later this evening. First pitch is at Noon EST and 11 AM CST. Fans can
click here to watch the game.
