Newport News, VA – The Misericordia University baseball team defeated #1 Christopher Newport, 8-4, in the NCAA Regional opener of its best-of-five series, Friday at Captains Park.
Ian McCole set a new single-season mark for wins, improving to 11-1 on the season. The MAC Freedom Pitcher of the Year tossed 7.2 innings with four earned runs and four strikeouts against one of the nation's top offenses.
Steve Weisensee helped lead the Cougars' offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Sean Boylan,
Conor Smith and
Tyler Holzapfel each drove home a team-high two runs while
Shane Hughes and
Billy Kerwien added one RBI. Boylan also went a perfect 3-for-3, batting out of the nine spot.
The Cougars batted around for six runs in the first inning. Jarema led off the game with a single to left-center field to extend his on-base streak to 32 games and advanced into scoring position on a
Parker Abate sacrifice bunt down the first base line. Misericordia then loaded the bases with one out after a Weisensee hit by pitch and a
Brady Madden walk.
Holzapfel drove home the Cougars' first two runs with a single to right field. Hughes and Kerwien then added back-to-back singles to plate a couple more runs, 4-0.
Smith kept the rally alive with a safety squeeze to plate Hughes and then Boylan doubled down the left field line to bring home the inning's final run, 6-0.
The Captains added a run in the first inning with an RBI single from Nicholas Baham. However, the Cougars answered with two runs in the third inning to extend their lead, 8-1.
Holzapfel started the third inning rally with a double down the left field line. Hughes then reached base on a hit by pitch to follow Holzapfel while both runners advanced into scoring position on a Kerwien sacrifice bunt. Smith then plated another run with his second safety squeeze of the contest while Boylan singled up the middle to drive home his second run.
Christopher Newport got a run back in the fourth inning, but the Cougars limited the damage with stellar defensive play. After the leadoff hitter reached base, Abate made a diving play in shallow center field to rob the Captains of an extra base hit. Jarema then made an outstanding, driving stop to the left side, which took away a potential run and led to a putout at second base.
McCole got into a groove with a scoreless fifth and sixth inning for the Cougars. The Cougars' ace retired the side 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, striking out the final batter swinging.
Christopher Newport put runners on the corners to open the seventh inning, then plated a runner with a sacrifice fly, 8-3. McCole then navigated out of a runners on the corners jam with two outs to strike out the Captains swinging on a 3-2 breaking ball.
In the eighth inning,
Kyle Melahn entered the game in relief of McCole with two runners on base and two outs. The sidearmer hit two consecutive batters to bring home a run, but struck out the following batter swinging to end the threat, 8-4.
Melahn shut the door in the ninth inning with a 1-2-3 frame. After allowing a leadoff walk, the senior induced a double play and a groundout to end the game.
The Cougars improved to 33-11 overall, taking the opener of their best-of-five series at Christopher Newport. Misericordia and the Captains will start game two at 3:30 PM, this afternoon.
