Ohio Wesleyan 12, Wooster 7

May 11, 2007

Senior second baseman Kyle Sherman (Plain City/Dublin Scioto) went 4-for-5 and freshman catcher Steve Ruygrok (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek) was 3-for-5 as Ohio Wesleyan scored in each of the first 6 innings and piled up 20 hits to stun top-ranked Wooster in Game 3 of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship series on Friday at Denison University in Granville.

The win gives Ohio Wesleyan the NCAC championship, the Battling Bishops' first since 2003, and sends Ohio Wesleyan on to the NCAA Division III playoffs, with regional dates and sites to be announced on Monday.

The winner-take-all third game of the series could not have started out worse for the Bishops. Wooster leftfielder Jake Sankal led off the game with a long drive to left center. Junior outfielder Brent Wilkins (Fairview Park/Fairview) lost the ball in the sun, then had it bounce away from him. Sankal flew around the bases and was credited with an inside-the-park home run on the play. Wooster centerfielder Shaun Swearingen then hit another drive to left center that fell for an error, and Wilkins's throw back to the infield eluded junior third baseman Donnie Paul (Lewis Center/Olentangy) for an error that allowed Swearingen to score on the play.

One out later, Pat Christensen smashed a ball that got through Paul for an error, but junior lefthander Joey McDaniel (Dublin/Scioto) got out of the inning without any further damage.

Ohio Wesleyan answered in the bottom of the first, as McDaniel led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by junior first baseman A.J. Dote (Columbus/Worthington Kilbourne). Sherman singled McDaniel to third, and sophomore shortstop Logan Hronis (Rocky River/St. Edward) followed with a grounder to third. Sherman was forced at second on the play, but Wooster second baseman John Quimby's relay throw to first was wild, scoring McDaniel and sending Hronis to second. Senior outfielder Sean Ring (Hilliard/Davidson) followed with a single to right, and when Fighting Scot rightfielder Oliver Enos misplayed the ball, Hronis scored, and what would be Wooster's only lead of the game was gone.

"That was huge," said Bishop head coach Tom Durant of the Bishops' first-inning comeback. "That was what did it for us -- the ability to come back and get back to even ground and start again. That would have been an easy situation to fold in, facing the No. 1 team in the nation with an undefeated pitcher, but our guys refocused and did the job."

The Bishops took the lead for good in the second as Ruygrok led off with a single and scored on a double by Wilkins. Wilkins took third on a sacrifice by freshman outfielder Daniel Hurst (Hamilton/Badin) and scored on McDaniel's RBI single for a 4-2 Bishop lead.

Wooster closed to within 4-3 in the top of the third on a 2-out walk to Christensen and singles by Enos and Quimby, but the Bishops got that run back in the bottom of the inning as Ring reached on an error by Wooster shortstop Matthew Johnson, took second on Paul's sacrifice, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Hurst's sacrifice fly.

Ohio Wesleyan tacked on 2 more runs in the fourth. Sherman walked with one out and went to third on a single by Hronis, with Hronis taking second on the throw. Paul reached on an error by Wooster third baseman Dan Skulina, scoring Sherman, and Ruygrok followed with a single to score Hronis.

Sherman crushed a 2-run homer in the fifth, increasing the Bishop lead to 9-3, and Ohio Wesleyan added a run in the sixth on an RBI single by junior second baseman Jerrell Johnson (Shaker Heights) for a 10-3 margin.

Quimby's RBI single in the seventh brought Wooster within 10-4, but Ohio Wesleyan bounced back with 2 runs in the eighth on an RBI triple by Johnson and Dote's RBI ground out.

Wooster rallied in the ninth, with Christensen lining a one-out double down the leftfield line and Enos reaching on an infield single. The runners moved up on a wild pitch and both scored on Sherman's throwing error on Justin Thomas's grounder. After a walk to Stu Beath and an RBI single by Brandon Boesinger, freshman righthander Matthew Struble (Defiance/Edon) came on in relief and got the final 2 outs to nail down the win and the conference title for Ohio Wesleyan.

Sherman's home run highlighted a 4-for-5 day at the plate, while Ruygrok drove in a run and scored twice. McDaniel and Johnson each went 2-for-3, with Johnson plating 2 runs, while Dote, Hronis, Ring and Wilkins also collected 2 hits apiece.

McDaniel worked the first 4.0 innings on the mound, allowing 4 hits and 3 runs. Freshman righthander Tyler Smith (Bryan) came on in the fifth and allowed 6 hits and 4 runs in 4.1 innings of work to receive the win. Struble got the final 2 outs.

Sherman was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by junior righthander Xander Jones (Pomfret, Conn./Pomfret School), Ruygrok, McDaniel, Wilkins and Ring.

Box Score

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