Horizon League Baseball Championship - Day 4

May 27, 2006

Game 8: (#3) Wright State 12, (#5) Butler 0
Fairborn, Ohio - Host Wright State turned five Butler errors into seven unearned runs, and Robert Barrett pitched eight shutout innings as the third-seeded Raiders defeated BU 10-0 in the winner's bracket of the 2006 Horizon League Baseball Championship. Wright State moved into the championship game with a 31-25 record while fifth-seeded Butler dropped into the comeback bracket, falling to 20-35 overall.

Wright State had collected 36 runs on 49 hits in two earlier games this week and wasted little time in claiming a 1-0 lead against Butler starter Matt Sokolowski. Leadoff hitter Ross Oeder singled and moved to third base on Aaron Garcia's single, setting the stage for Amin Abusaleh's sacrifice fly in the opening inning. The Raiders padded the lead with two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth, aided by a Bulldog error in each frame.

Justin Wilson led off the Raiders' fourth inning with a walk and moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Bulldog shortstop Joe Pauley attempted to throw Wilson out at third base on Jeremy Hamilton's grounder, but that throw bounced into the third-base dugout, allowing Wilson to score. John Kopilchack's RBI groundout stretched the lead to 3-0. Butler center fielder Dustin Bucalo dropped Dan Biedenharn's line drive to start the fifth inning, and Biedenharn crossed the plate two batters later on Amin Abusaleh's RBI double for a four-run advantage.

Wright State plated three additional runs in the bottom of the seventh, with two Butler throwing errors and a wild pitch contributing to that outburst. Aaron Garcia belted a three-run homer in the eighth (his fourth of the year) and the Bulldogs' fifth error of the game allowed two more runs to provide the final margin.

That was more than enough cushion for Barrett, who allowed only two hits in the first six innings. He struck out five and scattered six hits to improve to 9-3 on the season. Two of those nine victories have come in the League tournament, as Barrett has pitched 13 frames of scoreless, eight-hit baseball during the week. Sokolowski yielded only one earned run on five hits during his five-inning stint, but was victimized by a lack of support in falling to 0-5 on the year.

Oeder had three hits of Wright State's 11 hits and scored twice, while Abusaleh drove in a pair of runs with his 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Dan Biedenharn scored three runs for the Raiders.

Wright State is in the championship game for the first time since 1997, when the Raiders lost to Detroit on the same Nischwitz Stadium field. WSU will attempt to gain its first League championship since 1995.

Butler plays top-seeded UIC in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Saturday, with the winner of that contest needing to defeat Wright State twice for the League title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship. If Butler defeats UIC, the Bulldogs would face the Raiders at 9 a.m. Sunday, while a UIC victory would start the championship series at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

Box Score and Play-by-Play in PDF Format

Game 9: (#5) Butler 8, (#1) UIC 6
(UIC eliminated)
Fairborn, Ohio - Fifth-seeded Butler scored four runs in the sixth and one more in the eighth, eliminating top-seeded UIC 8-6 in an elimination game and advancing to the championship game of the 2006 Horizon League Championship Tournament. The Bulldogs improved to 21-35 overall while the Flames had their season end at 35-20.

Butler jumped on Flames starter Ryan Martin (5-2) for a quick 3-0 lead in the first two innings. Stephen Gill and Jeff Brown opened the game with sharp singles and eventually scored two unearned runs, as Gill scored on a passed ball and Brown crossed the plate when Martin's pickoff attempt sailed past third baseman Nick Rainwater. The Bulldogs stretched the margin to 3-0 on a leadoff single by Mike Stout and Joel Matheny's one-out, RBI base hit.

Ben Trotter put UIC on the board with his second home run of the season in the bottom of the second, and the Flames scored twice more off Butler starter Craig Costello in the following frame. Rainwater singled and scored on Mark Hallberg's double to make the score 3-2. Two batters later, Bart Babineaux plated Hallberg with a base hit to even the score.

Singles by Chad Schroeder and Bryan Nolte, along with a walk to Rainwater loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, and Hallberg's sacrifice fly gave the Flames their first lead of the game at 4-3. Costello escaped further damage, however, as Larry Gempp Jr. struck out and Babineaux grounded out to end that threat.

The Flames threatened to add to the lead in the fifth, loading the bases with one out before Feeney came on to force fly outs from Bryan Nolte and Nick Rainwater. Butler's batters sustained the momentum in the top of the sixth, tallying four runs against three UIC pitchers to take a lead the Bulldogs would not relinquish.

Walks to Tony Barnes and Clayton Deeb put two runners aboard with one out before reliever Randy Krick hit Joel Matheny to load the bases. Dustin Bucalo then dropped a looping fly ball in front of a diving Larry Gempp Jr. to score two runs for a 6-5 lead, and Jeff Brown's grounder scored another run before Joe Pauley's RBI single capped the flurry.

Butler tacked on another run in the eighth with one-out singles from Bucalo and Gill plus a sacrifice fly by Pauley. The Flames mounted one final comeback attempt, rapping out three hits including two-out, RBI singles from Trotter and Ben Rosinski, but Butler reliever Brian Deter got Chad Schroeder to ground out to end the game.

Patrick Feeney (2-1) pitched 3.2 innings of hitless relief before being touched for two runs in the ninth. Deter earned his first save of the year, completing a stellar performance from the Butler bullpen after Costello yielded four runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings of work. Gill had four of Butler's 12 hits, while Bucalo and Pauley each drove in a pair of runs. Trotter went 3-for-4 with two RBI in a losing effort.

The Flames outscored Butler 81-18 in sweeping the six regular-season meetings between the teams but could not dispose of Butler, which handed UIC both of its tournament defeats. Butler relegated the Flames to the comeback bracket with a 6-4 decision Friday morning. The Flames stranded ten runners on base Saturday, including seven in the middle three innings.

Butler had committed five errors in a loss to Wright State earlier Saturday afternoon but played flawless defense against UIC. Saturday's victory now sets up a re-match Sunday morning, with Butler needing to defeat WSU twice in a 9 a.m. doubleheader to win the championship.

UIC has won the last five regular-season League titles but has only two Championship pennants in that span. Seventh-seeded Youngstown State claimed the 2004 crown on its home field while UW-Milwaukee won the championship in 2002. Butler, meanwhile, has reached the championship game each of the last three times Wright State has hosted the tournament. The Bulldogs fell to UIC in the last game of the 2003 summit and swept a pair from the Flames to capture the 2000 title.

Box Score and Play-by-Play in PDF Format

Sunday's schedule
(#3) Wright State vs. (#5) Butler, 9 a.m. (ET)
(#3) Wright State vs. (#5) Butler, noon (if necessary)
Note: Butler must win the first game to force the second championship contest. If Wright State wins the first game, the second game will not be played as the Raiders will have clinched the Horizon League championship.