Horizon League Baseball Championship - Day 2

May 25, 2006

Game 3: (#6) Cleveland State 6, (#4) Youngstown State 4
(Youngstown State eliminated)
Fairborn, Ohio - Cleveland State rallied from a 4-0 deficit, and used a three-run eighth inning to defeat Youngstown State 6-4 in an elimination game at the 2006 Horizon League Baseball Championship. The sixth-seeded Vikings improved to 10-41 overall while fourth seed Youngstown State ends the season at 26-29.

YSU collected five hits in the second inning to plate four runs off Cleveland State starter Stephen Procner. Charles Schultz' two-run single highlighted the frame, which also featured run-scoring hits from J.D. Hannan and John Koehnlein.

Eric Shaffer allowed only one hit over the first five innings before the Vikings touched the Penguin starter for two runs in the sixth inning, cutting the margin in half. Shaffer yielded one more hit during a scoreless seventh before leaving with a 4-2 advantage but for the second day in a row, the YSU bullpen could not hold the lead.

Josh Geric led off the CSU eighth with a single off reliever Kevin Libeg (0-6), and Ryan Baechel homered two batters later to tie the score. After Baechel's sixth home run of the season cleared the left field fence to pull Cleveland State even at 4-4, the Vikings used a single, double and walk to load the bases before reliever Chris Dennis walked pinch-hitter Michael Babin to force in a run. YSU escaped further damage when Bobby Cash bounced into an inning-ending double play.

Libeg allowed three runs on four hits in one-third of an inning for the Penguins.

The Vikings added some insurance in the ninth on Vasili Pahoulis' lead-off double, a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. The two-run cushion was sufficient as Jeremy Hartman pitched 1.2 innings of one-hit relief for his third save of the season. Procner received his first victory in nine decisions with 7.1 innings of work. Excluding the troublesome second inning, Procner allowed six hits and no runs.

Geric led the Viking attack with a three-for-four showing at the plate, while Baechel had three RBI. Pahoulis scored a pair of runs for the victors, while Schultz was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for Youngstown State.

Box Score and Play-by-Play in PDF Format

Game 4: (#3) Wright State 20, (#2) UW-Milwaukee 3
Fairborn, Ohio - Host Wright State broke open a close game with seven runs in the seventh inning and seven more in the eighth, defeating second-seeded UW-Milwaukee 20-3 in a winner's bracket contest. The third-seeded Raiders won their 30th game against 25 losses while UW-Milwaukee is now 31-24 overall.

UW-Milwaukee scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull within 5-3, but Wright State sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the seventh. Nine of those hitters collected base hits, led by Jeremy Hamilton's two-run triple and another run-scoring three-bagger from Justin Parker. WSU poured it on one inning later as 13 Raiders came to the plate in the eighth, as John Kopilchack hit a three-run homer and Amin Abusaleh added a solo shot.

Wright State broke the single-game tournament record with 26 hits, one game after matching the previous standard of 23 in WSU's 16-1 victory over Cleveland State on Wednesday. The 20 runs were the most since Notre Dame's record-setting 22-5 victory over Evansville in the 1993 championship game.

Wilson and Hamilton had RBI singles in the first inning and the Raiders took advantage of two UWM errors for three unearned runs in the second, building an early 5-0 lead. The Panthers managed only two hits in the first five innings before plating three runs on three hits in the sixth. UW-Milwaukee had the tying run at the plate until Aaron Garcia picked a runner off of second base to end the threat. The hosts came back with 14 runs on 16 hits in the next two innings.

All nine Raiders scored and drove in at least one run apiece, with Hamilton, Parker and Ross Oeder each collecting four hits. Abusaleh, Hamilton and Kopilchack each had three RBI, while Parker's 4-for-5 effort included trips across the plate. Oeder and Biedenharn also scored three runs apiece.

That offensive outburst was more than enough support for Wright State starter Erich Schanz, who raised his record to 6-3 after allowing three runs on five hits in six innings. Panther starter Rick Cavaiani suffered his first loss since April 2, falling to 8-2. Cavaiani gave up 11 runs (eight earned) on 14 hits in 6.1 innings.

Box Score and Play-by-Play in PDF Format

Game 5: (#1) UIC vs. (#5) Butler, postponed
Fairborn, Ohio - Thursday's final game between top-seeded UIC and fifth seed Butler was postponed by rain, hail and lightning which hit the area surrounding Nischwitz Stadium immediately after the Wright State/UW-Milwaukee contest. The updated schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):

Friday, May 26
Game 5: (#1) UIC vs. (#5) Butler, 11 a.m.
Game 6: (#6) Cleveland State vs. (#2) UW-Milwaukee, 3 p.m. [elimination game]
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. UIC-Butler loser, 7 p.m. [elimination game]

Saturday, May 27
Game 8: (#3) Wright State vs. UIC-Butler winner, 11 a.m.
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 3 p.m.[elimination game]
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 7 p.m. [first championship game]

Sunday, May 28
Game 11: Second championship game, noon [if needed]