The Wabash College baseball team earned a berth in the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division III Baseball Mideast Regional after scoring a 3-1 win against Ithaca College and a 4-0 shutout over host Adrian College Sunday afternoon.

The Little Giants (32-16) will face The College of Wooster in the championship game Monday at 10 a.m.at Nicolay Field at Adrian. Wabash is coming out of the loser's bracket having been defeated 4-2 by the Fighting Scots to open the Regional Thursday. That means the Little Giants would have to win twice to capture the title and earn a spot at the Division III Championship Series in Appleton, Wisconsin. The Wabash College baseball team earned a berth in the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division III Baseball Mideast Regional after scoring a 3-1 win against Ithaca College and a 4-0 shutout over host Adrian College Sunday afternoon.
 
Wabash rode strong pitching performances from Kase Lawson, Bryan Roberts, and Zach Moffett. Tyler Cooper opened on the mound in the early game against Ithaca. He retired five of the first nine hitters he faced, but surrendered an early run in the second on three walks and a hit batsman. Cooper struck out two batters before turning the ball over to Lawson in relief. The freshman right hander pitched 5-1/3 innings, limiting Ithaca (30-17) its only hit of the game. Lawson walked one batter and struck out two.
 
The Little Giants tied the game in the bottom of the second inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Tyler Downing. Wabash tacked on another run in the third to take the lead when Jackson Blevins lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Jared Wolfe with the eventual game-winning run.
 
Henry Wannemuehler added an insurance run with his RBI single in the sixth inning to score Eric Chavez from second with an insurance run. Moffett entered the game in the eighth inning and held the Bombers to two walks over the final two innings. He struck out one batter to earn his tenth save of the season.
 
Roberts won his pitching duel against Adrian's Jordan Williams in Sunday's final game. The senior took to the hill for perhaps the final time in his career and worked 8-1/3 innings of three-hit baseball in the combined shutout with Moffett. Roberts retired 27 of 35 batters faced, allowing three walks and a hit batsman while striking out eight. He worked out of jams in the first and seventh innings before Moffett took over to close out the victory over the 25th-ranked Bulldogs (35-12). Moffett recorded the final two outs of the game --- one with a strikeout --- to earn his 11th save.
 
Wabash was limited to seven hits over the course of eight innings by the Bulldogs rookie starter Williams, but managed to score a run in the second when Wannemuehler delivered an RBI single to drive in Matthew Annee with the game-winning run. The Little Giants added three insurance runs in the ninth, all with two outs. Downing started the two-out rally with a single to right center ahead of a Wannemuehler single to right to put runners on the corners. A walk to Wolfe loaded the bases before Sean Roginski drew a bases loaded walk off the Bulldogs' reliever to make it a 2-0 game. Bryce Aldridge followed with a smash to right center for a double, scoring Wolfe and Wannemuehler to put the game out of reach thanks to the pitching performances of Roberts and Moffett.
 
Wannemuehler finished with four hits for the day, including three against Adrian. Aldridge had two hits in the first game against Ithaca and added a hit and three walks in game two. Tyler Downing collected three hits in the two games, as well.
 
Monday's first championship game between Wabash and Wooster will mark the sixth time the two teams have played one another this season. The Scots claimed two games at Wabash during conference play before Wabash countered with a pair of wins to capture the North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament title. Wooster defeated Wabash 4-2 in the second game of the Mideast Regional, sending Wabash to the elimination bracket where the Little Giants won their next four games against Marietta, La Roche, Ithaca, and Adrian.
 
Wabash is playing the NCAA regional tournament for the second time in school history and will play for the regional title for the first time. Wooster is in the regional title game for the first time since 2009. Should the Little Giants win the first game on Monday, a final championship game will take place shortly after the conclusion of game one.
 
 
 
 
 


A complete story will be available later this evening.