A four-run seventh inning gave Wooster a 6-4 victory over Wabash and a place in the North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Championship series.
Leading 4-2, Wabash turned to Andrew Swart to come into the game in relief of starter Brian Van Duyn. Swart, pitching without rest after working more than two innings in Wabash’s win on Saturday, got the Little Giants out of a jam in the sixth after the Scots had runners at second and first with one out. Swart entered the game and struck out Shane Swearingen before ending the inning with a flyball to right by Derek Wyman. The Scots eventually loaded the bases with two outs.
After working the count to 3-2, first baseman Zack Vesco sent a pitch into center field for a two-run single to give Wooster a 5-4 lead. The Scots added an insurance run with an RBI single by Swearingen to take the two-run lead.
The Little Giants went down in order in their half of the seventh. Sean Karpen, the leading hitter in the NCAC, launched a one-out home run over the left field fence in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Wabash lead to 4-3.
Wabash would get leadoff hitter David Seibel on base in the top of the ninth, but could not tie the contest against the ninth-ranked Scots.
Wabash fell behind 1-0 in the first inning before tying the game on a single by Brian Lares to score Matt Dodaro from third after the senior started the second inning with a double. The Little Giants took the lead in the third when PJ Tyson walked and scored on a double to right center field by Chris Deig. A single by Dodaro brought Deig home for a 3-1 lead.
The Scots trimmed the lead to a run in the bottom of the third on a Luke Sutton homer to right center. Wabash got the run back in the top of the fourth. Seibel greeted relief pitcher Justin McDowell with a single on the first pitch. Lares hit into a fielder’s choice to trade places at first with Seibel before eventually scoring on a single by John Pennington.
Swart took the loss to finish the season with a record of 5-2. He pitched 1-2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. Van Duyn threw 5-1/3 innings of two-run baseball on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Luke Zinsmaster and Andy Weeks closed out the eighth inning for the Little Giants without giving up a hit.
The Little Giants collected eight hits, led by Seibel and Dodaro with two apiece.
Wabash finished with a 23-19 record, the third-most wins in a season by a Little Giant team.