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LANCASTER, PA – Pitcher Jeremy Knox (Sr., Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) went 6.1 innings allowing four runs with three strikeouts to pick up the win, while Jeff Rowand (Jr., York, PA/Dallastown) came on to pitch 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn a save as the top-seed and #13 nationally ranked Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall College captured the 2006 Centennial Conference baseball championship with a 7-4 win over fourth-seed Haverford College to sweep the conference championship series. The title marks the third Centennial Conference crown in school history as the team previously won the 1995 and 2005 titles, and is the fourth title since the program’s inception in 1877 as F&M won the 1978 Middle Atlantic Conference championship. Further, as champions of the Centennial Conference, F&M (28-9, 16-2 Centennial Conference) receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament as Franklin & Marshall will make its third appearance in the NCAA field after earning the CC’s automatic bid in 1995 and 2005. The NCAA field will be announced on May 15. Against the Fords (22-19, 11-7 Centennial Conference), the duo of Knox and Rowand kept the Fords’ bats at bay, while F&M slugged 13 hits, drew four walks and stole three bases to clinch the CC crown. Franklin & Marshall, playing as the away team per Centennial Conference rules dictating the host plays as the home squad in the first game and the third game if necessary, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game as Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) singled to lead off the game. Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to advance Milavsky to third base before Pat O’Reilly (So., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) singled to right field to score Milavsky for a 1-0 lead. Corey Caruthers (Sr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) followed with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Stern. Following a strikeout, Rich Gallugi (So., Peabody, MA/St. John’s Prep) singled off Haverford starting pitcher Jeff Graupe to drive in O’Reilly for a 3-0 lead. Haverford cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning as Ben Field singled to center field and stole second base before scoring on an RBI single by Tim McLean to pull the Fords to within 3-1. The Fords took the lead in the bottom of the third inning as McLean and Ben Einbinder walked with one out and scored on a triple by Kenny McAlpine to knot the game at 3-3. Haverford took the lead one batter later as Ryan Stephens lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to scored McAlpine for a 4-3 lead. Franklin & Marshall knotted the game in the top of the fifth as Kruger doubled to left field, moved to third on a ground out by O’Reilly and raced home on a sacrifice fly by Caruthers to right field to tie the game at 4-4. The Diplomats put the game away in the seventh inning as Stern walked to lead off the inning and force Graupe from the game. Facing reliever John Castronova, Stern stole second base and Kruger walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. O’Reilly plated Stern and moved Kruger to third with an RBI double to right centerfield and Caruthers knocked in Kruger and O’Reilly with a two RBI single to left centerfield for a 7-4 lead as the Fords worked out of the inning. The Fords threatened in the bottom of the inning as Knox got one out before Field tripled to left centerfield. Rowan came on in relief and ended the inning as he fanned McLean and Einbinder. Rowand put down the Fords 1-2-3 in the eighth on a fly out, a strike out swinging and a ground out to third base before closing out the game in the ninth with a walk, a foul out and a double to seal the win, back-to-back titles and an NCAA bid for the Diplomats.
Overall, Caruthers keyed the Diplomats in the game going two-for-four with four RBI. In addition, O’Reilly was two-for-five with two runs scored and two RBI, while Gallugi finished three-for-four with an RBI as the Diplomats finished 4-0 against the Fords this year outscoring Haverford 30-6 (4-1 W, 9-1 W, 10-0 W, 7-4 W). On the mound, Knox earned his 10th win of the year to tie Tim Sheridan ’96 (10 wins in 1995) for second on the single season victories list as he improved to 10-1 on the year with a 2.71 earned run average as he allowed four runs by the Fords on nine hits and three walks. Historically, the win improves Knox to 19-7 in his career with five complete games and 144 strikeouts in 215 innings of work as he moved into a tie with teammate Ted Serro (Sr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) for the career wins record (18) and ranks among the leaders in complete games (ninth, five), strikeouts (sixth, 144), innings pitched (first, 215) and saves (8th, two). In addition, Rowand made history becoming the first player to record a game-winning hit, earn a win and notch a save in the playoffs as he went 2.2 innings allowing one walk and no hits with three strikeouts to pick up a save. Last year at Caplan Field in the 2005 Centennial Conference title series, he slammed an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to win game one 1-0 over Johns Hopkins, before recording the win in relief in game three as the Diplomats knocked off the Blue Jays 4-3 victory to win their second CC title.
For Haverford, Graupe took the loss allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. Castronova went a third of an inning allowing two runs on two hits and two walks, while Jon Berke finished the game for the Fords going 2.2 innings with two hits allowed. At the plate, Field finished three-for-four with a run scored, while McAlpine was two-for-three with a run scored and two RBI. Historically, the win marked F&M’s seventh straight over the Fords as the Diplomats improved to 39-20-1 all-time against Haverford in baseball.
The win was dramatically different than game one of the championship series in which Serro went the distance allowing two hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts in a 10-0 win for the first shutout in the history of the Centennial Conference championship series. The key to the championship run for the Diplomats was the pitching of Serro, Knox and Rowand as the F&M hurlers combined for a 2.00 ERA in 18 innings with 17 strikeouts, six walks and a .180 batting average by the Fords. At the plate, Caruthers led the team going four-for-eight with four RBI and three runs scored, while Jon Compitello (Sr., Yardley, PA/George School) drove in four runs. The championship series was historic as Haverford became the second fourth-seed to advance to play for the title as Muhlenberg College knocked off Ursinus College (8-5 W) and Franklin & Marshall (5-4 W) in the first round and semifinals before falling to Johns Hopkins 3-1 and 5-4 in the title series in the 2002 Centennial Conference playoffs. Further, the series marked the first time Johns Hopkins University failed to make the championship games as the Blue Jays fell to Haverford 9-7 in the tournament semifinal elimination game at Caplan Field on May 6. Historically, F&M and Johns Hopkins are the only teams to win the championship series as Blue Jays hosted and won the 2002, 2003 and 2004 titles, while the Diplomats hosted and won the tournament the past two seasons.
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