EASTLAKE, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team defeated Johns Hopkins (Md.) University by a final score of 11-4 at Classic Auto Group Park to start off the NCAA Division III College World Series.
Left-handed ace
Brit Kostura (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian School) took care of business with seven innings pitched and 103 pitches while only allowing two earned runs. Although BW started with an 0-2 deficit off of two solo home runs,
Kostura held strong to earn the win for his team. He earns his 12th win of the season and his fourth of the postseason, dating back to the OAC Tournament.
Sophomore first baseman
Matt DelDuca (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) had a couple of two-run home runs – one to start the scoring and one to put a cherry on top. Senior third baseman
Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) was the difference maker when he blew the game open in the fifth inning with a grand slam.
"The hit was a big momentum swing,"
Kolenich said, "it's tough to tell when you first hit it off the bat, but it just kept going and going and it eventually went out," he said.
Scoring Summary
- Top 4th – DelDuca started off the scoring for the Brown and Gold with a home run into one of the deepest parts of the ballpark, the left center field fence to tie the game at two
- Top 5th – Kolenich hit a sacrifice fly to right field as the Brown and Gold took their first lead of the game, 3-2
- Top 7th – Sophomore left fielder Mario Escano (Broadview Heights/North Royalton) sent one over the center field wall to make it a two-run ball game
- Top 7th – Kolenich hit a grand slam to blow the lead open for BW, taking the lead 8-2 with the Yellow Jackets being only nine outs from victory at the time
- Top 8th – Junior catcher Mason Fixx (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) singled into left field to score the runner on third, making the score 9-2
- Top 9th – DelDuca hit his second homer of the game in the top of the ninth to add some insurance, the first multi-homer game of his career
At the Plate
- Fixx finished the game going 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored; he has had one in all six tournament games the Yellow Jackets have played
- Kolenich's grand slam was his seventh home run of the year and his second game of the year with five RBI; he finished the contest going 2-for-4, hitting a double in the top of the ninth
- Senior right fielder John Panstares (Westlake/St. Ignatius) was 2-for-4 with a double, his second multi-hit game of this tournament
- Escano's home run was his second of the year in 67 at bats
- DelDuca finished the game going 2-for-5 with two home runs, and drove in four runs on the swings
On the Mound
- Kostura was the starting and winning pitcher for the Brown and Gold, going seven innings and allowing two runs on six hits; he struck out five batters and issued only two walks
- Sophomore right-hander Sam Hoffman (Mentor/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) got the final four outs of the game, allowing one run, striking out two batters and allowing two hits
Up Next
- The Yellow Jackets are back in action tomorrow at Classic Auto Group Park where they will play the winner of top-seeded Denison University and eighth-seeded East Texas Baptist University later today. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. approx and will begin 45 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. Fans can click here to watch the game and can also tune into WBWC 88.3 FM for radio coverage with Alex Dettmer calling all the action.
