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BOYERTOWN, PA– Rowan University third baseman Matt Enuco hit a one-out single to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning to plate shortstop Matt Johnson and give the top-seeded Profs (38-7) a 1-0 win over #6 seed Franklin & Marshall (25-15) in the first game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Mid-Atlantic Regional at Bear Stadium. Courtesy the win, Rowan will face the loser of the #4 The College of New Jersey /#3 Alvernia College game on Friday at 3:00 p.m., while Franklin & Marshall will square off with #5 Messiah College, a 5-4 loser to #2 DeSales University in the second first round game, at 11:00 a.m. in the double-elimination tournament.
The game was a pitchers’ duel as Rowan’s Tom McCullen and
Franklin & Marshall hurler Ted Serro (Jr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier)
kept the game scoreless as Serro went nine innings and struck
out nine, while McCullen struck out eight and walked the only
batter he faced in the ninth inning.
After McCullen retired the Diplomats 1-2-3 in the top of the first inning, Serro pitched his way out of trouble early as Profs leadoff Frank Galeota reached on an error. Following a strikeout of Enuco looking, catcher Michael Rucci put runners at first and second with a single over first base. However, Serro got out of the jam as first baseman Irv McFarland ground back to the mound to move the runners to second and third before rightfielder Bryan Ciconte ground out to second base. McCullen went through the Diplomats 1-2-3 again in the second inning as he recorded a pair of groundouts to first base and a strikeout looking to bring the Rowan bats back to the plate. Designated hitter Jesse Pappler led the inning off with a walk and leftfielder Jim Comprelli sacrificed to move the runner over before Serro fanned Brian McLaughlin and induced Johnson to ground out to second base to strand another Rowan runner on base. The Diplomats threatened in the third inning as centerfielder Eric Milavsky (Jr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and second baseman Tommy Miller (Fr., York, PA/Central York) singled through the left side of the infield to lead off the inning. Shortstop Josh Welk (So., Strasburg, PA/Lancaster Christian) sacrificed the runners over the second and third to bring up leadoff hitter Rich Gallugi (Fr., Peabody,MA/St. Johns Prep). However, McCullen tailed a fastball over the inside corner of the plate to get Gallugi looking and fanned first baseman Pat O’Reilly (Fr., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) to end the Diplomats’ threat. Rowan failed to manage much off Serro in the third getting a two-out single from Rucci before the side was retired. McCullen returned the favor in the top of the fourth and Serro set down the Profs in order for the first time in the bottom of the fourth. Milavsky reached on a single to start the fifth and McCullen threw wild to first on a sacrifice bunt by Miller to put two on with no outs. With Welk at the plate, the Diplomats attempted to lay down a bunt but failed to execute as Rucci picked Milavsky off second. McCullen then struck out Welk before Gallugi singled putting two on with two out, but O’Reilly grounded out to first to end the inning. Rowan put their first two runners on in the bottom of the fifth as McLaughlin singled to left field and Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice as McLaughlin advanced on a throwing error by Serro. However, Serro again worked out of a jam as he struck out Galeota swinging before Enuco grounded into an inning-ending 5-3 double play as third baseman Gary Kruger (Jr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) forced McLaughlin at third base and throw across the diamond for the third out. Kruger opened the sixth with a single to centerfield, but McCullen picked him off for the first out before retiring leftfielder Corey Caruthers (Jr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) and rightfielder Dan Hanecak (Jr., Conestoga, PA/Lancaster Catholic) on ground balls to end the inning. Rowan stranded its fifth runner of the day in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth when Bryan Ciconte was hit by a pitch with two outs and took second on a wild pitch before Serro’s seventh strikeout of the day ended the Profs’ sixth. Both teams went down in order in the seventh inning as Franklin & Marshall put their leadoff runner on for the fourth time to open the eighth as Welk reached on an infield error by Galeota at second base. Gallugi flied out to center and O’Reilly sacrificed Welk over the second base, but McCullen struck out Kruger swinging for his eighth K of the day. Rowan attempted to rally in the home half of the eighth as Enuco beat out a play at first base with one out, but was thrown out trying to steal second and Rucci struck out keeping the game scoreless through eight full innings. The Diplomats best chance to score came in the ninth as walked to lead off the inning and force McCullen from the game. Rowan freshman Conrad Renner entered the game in relief and got some defensive help right away as Johnson made an over-the-shoulder catch at shortstop to retire Hanecak. Catcher Stephen Frederick (Jr., Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) singled through the right side to put runners at first and second with one out, but Milavsky struck out and Miller fouled out to third to end the Diplomats’ ninth inning and put the game back in Serro’s hands. First baseman Irv McFarland flied out to centerfield to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but Ciconte was hit by a pitch for the second time in as many at-bats to put a runner on base. The Profs put another man on as Ciconte moved into scoring position with a stolen base as pinch hitter Roger Turley struck out looking and Serro walked Comprelli with two outs. McLaughlin closed out the inning as he ground out to Miller who flipped the ball to Welk who was covering the second base bag on a fielder’s choice.
Renner retired Welk on a ground ball to start the 10th inning
and hit Gallugi before allowing a single to O’Reilly to put
runners at first and second with one out. The Profs then summoned
McLaughlin from center field to finish the inning as Kruger
fouled out to right field before a throwing error by Johnson
allowed both runners to advance on the play. Batting with
runners on second and third with two outs, Caruthers drew
a walk to load the bases, but McLaughlin got Hanecak to fly
out to centerfield to end the inning.
Reliever EJ Leary (Jr., Seymour, CT/Seymour) took over for Serro in the bottom of the tenth. Johnson singled to leftfield to open the inning and moved over to second on a sacrifice by Galeota to set the plate for Enuco who lined a ball to leftfield plating Johnson from second without a throw for the winning run. Overall, the Diplomats out hit Rowan 8-6 in the game, but stranded 11 base runners to the Profs’ nine as the two teams combined for 18 strikeouts, 12 fly outs and 26 ground outs in the game. Historically, Serro has not allowed a run in 25 innings as he pitched a nine inning 1-0 win over Johns Hopkins University in game one of the Centennial Conference Championship series on May 8 and hurled a seven inning 3-0 win over Dickinson College on May 1. In addition, Serro has allowed one run with 39 strikeouts in his last 40 innings and two runs with 40 strikeouts in his last 41 innings. Franklin & Marshall will now face Messiah which fell to DeSales 5-4 as the Bulldogs Ian Hauze launched a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to rally for the win.
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