May 21, 2007

Monday, May 21, 2007

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Thurs. 24 Track at NAIA Nationals

Fri. 25 Baseball vs. St. Thomas (FL) at NAIA World Series 8:30 am (PST)

Track at NAIA Nationals

Sat. 25 Baseball at NAIA World Series 12 pm or 3 pm (PST)

Track at NAIA Nationals

Schedule and times are subject to change

BASEBALL: Cavs (28-28, 9-7 AMC N) Headed to NAIA College World Series/Meet St. Thomas (FL) in First Game

Walsh is headed to the NAIA World Series.  The Cavs completed their miracle post-season sweep, winning the best of three series with Fisher College two-games to none.  Walsh will make their first-ever appearance at the Series, when they meet St. Thomas (FL) at 8:30 am (PST) on Friday.  All games in the double elimination tournament are being played at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho.  Walsh is the number ten seed in the ten team tournament.  St. Thomas (46-14-1) is the number seven seed.   St. Thomas lost (18-0) to Lee University (TN) in the Atlantic South Super Regional Championship, but received the second at-large berth to the tournament. The winner of the Cavs/St. Thomas game plays on Saturday at 3 pm (PST) against second seeded Spring Arbor University (MI) (45-3).  Spring Arbor won the Heartland Super Regional with a two-game sweep of St. Ambrose.  Walsh and Spring Arbor met in the regular season in Kentucky, in February, with Spring Arbor winning 3-2.  The loser of the Walsh/St. Thomas game plays at 12 pm (PST) on Saturday against the loser of the Lewis-Clark (ID) (53-5)/Lee (50-13) game.  Walsh enters the NAIA World Series on a six-game win streak.

Behind the pitching of Andy Schon (Sr., Coventry, OH/HS), Walsh defeated Fisher College (33-15) 4-1 in the first game of the NAIA East Coast Super Regional last Thursday. Cleveland Indians' Hall of Famer Bob Feller threw out the first pitch.  Schon (8-5) fanned 13, and scattered eight hits in winning his eighth game of the season.  With his 13 strikeouts, he became Walsh's all-time single season leader with 91.  Walsh took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, when Mark Kelly (Fr., Norton, Oh/HS) led off with a double and scored on a one out double by Ryan Indorf (Jr., Massillon, OH/HS).  Indorf then scored when Jeff Nicholas (Jr., Navarre, OH/Perry) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.  Walsh added their third run in the fourth, when Chad Campbell (Jr., Ashtabula, OH/Lakeside) led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a double play ball.  Fisher's only run came in the fifth, when Carlos Alvarado singled and scored on a two-out hit by Evan Tardugno.  Walsh's final run came on a solo homerun in the seventh inning by Kelly.

Walsh completed its miracle run on Friday, defeating Fisher College (33-16) 4-3 to win the best of three series two games to none.  Walsh jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Ryan Indorf reached base on an error and then scored on an error.  Fisher, the home team, tied the game in the home half of the first when Tom Englehardt singled in Joey Eugenio.  Fisher took a 2-1 lead in the second, when Axel Flecha tripled in Rob Mondello, and then scored on a two-out single by Carlos Alvarado.  Walsh closed to within 3-2 in the third, when Mark Kelly, who led off with a double to right-center, scored on a sacrifice fly by Indorf.  The Cavs tied the game in the sixth inning.  Tim Hromada (Fr., North Royalton, OH/Padua Franciscan) led-off with a double.  Matt Marshall (Jr., New Boston, OH/Glenwood) then ran for Hromada and scored the tying run on a single by Mike Suliks (Fr., Norton, OH/HS).  Walsh took the lead for good in the seventh.  Indorf led off with a single and was advanced to second when Rollin Matsui (Sr., Thornhill, ONT/Westmount) reached base on an error by the shortstop.  Indorf then scored from second base, when Fisher center fielder Zach Thompson fell down while catching Kade Klick's (sr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) deep fly to center.  The rest of the game was in hands of starter Kyle Lynn (Sr., Massillon, OH/Tuslaw) and reliever Chris Norris (Jr., Massillon, OH/Jackson).  Lynn picked-up the win (4-2), going 7.1 innings.  He scattered 10 hits, fanned seven and only allowed three base runners after the second inning.  Norris retired five of six batters to earn his first save of the season.

All games in the World Series will be streamed live (audio and video) on the internet.  Details and links will be available on the Walsh website www.walsh.edu later in the week.

MEN'S TRACK: Cavs Will Send Five Athletes to Nationals

Walsh will send five athletes to the 56th annual Men's NAIA Track and Field Championships, held at Fresno Pacific University, in Fresno, CA (5/24-26).  

Tim Geabler (Sr., Canton, OH/GlenOak) makes his third trip to nationals.  He will compete in the marathon.  Also competing in the marathon will be Mike Groholy (Jr., Parma, OH/Valley Forge), Josh Rogers (Jr., Uniontown, OH/Lake) and Jon Winnyk (So., Strongsville, OH/Holy Name).  Brendan McKee (So., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) will be making his second trip, and will compete in the steeplechase.

McKee will compete on Friday, with Geabler, Groholy, Rogers and Winnyk competing on Saturday.

WOMEN'S TRACK: Walsh Will Send Four Athletes to Nationals

Walsh University will send four athletes to the 27th annual NAIA Track and Field Championships, held at Fresno Pacific University, in Fresno, CA (5/24-26).  

Maria Mudd (So., Suffield, OH/St. Thomas Aquinas) will be making her second trip to nationals.  She will compete in the 3000m racewalk.  Danielle Cofojohn (Fr., Diamond, OH/Southeast) will compete in the discus, Tess Francis (Sr., Randolph, OH/Waterloo) in the 400m hurdles and Andrea DiNinno (So., Greensburg, PA/Central Catholic) in the marathon.

Francis will compete on Friday, with Cofojohn, DiNinno and Mudd competing on Saturday.