Purdue Fort Wayne
17-37, 0
Centenary
27-24, 0
Playoff Run Falls Short
5/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2010
Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW's bid for its first-ever Summit League Baseball Tournament fell just short on Saturday afternoon at Mastodon Field.
IPFW took Game 1 of the doubleheader with Centenary, 4-3 but lost the nightcap, 6-2. That, coupled with Oakland's 11-4 win over Southern Utah put the Golden Grizzlies into the tournament by percentage points over IPFW.
The 'Dons finished the conference slate with a record of 13-15 while the Golden Grizzlies, who played one less game due to a rainout, finished at 13-14.
Game 1 was a thriller. IPFW faced Centenary ace Boone Whiting and got on the board on a clutch two-out RBI single by left fielder Joel Washko that plated a pair.
Centenary would finally solve IPFW starter Lucas Kesterson in the 6th inning on a two-run homer by right fielder Cliff Shepard. The next batter, first baseman Tell Ross then lifted a solo homer to left to give the Gents a 3-2 lead.
However, IPFW would tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Designated hitter Brett Clark greeted reliever Seth Lugo with a lead-off triple to dead center. He would come home on a sacrifice fly from third baseman Shaun VanDriessche that would tie it at three.
The score remained three-all until the bottom of the 9th inning. Kurt Dudley led off the inning with a double just off the top of the wall in center off of CC reliever Stephen Tromblee. Catcher Brendan Landwehr sacrificed him to third, and the next batter, pinch hitter Cory Miller brought Dudley home with a sacrifice line out to left field.
Senior Brandon Knowling came on in the 7th inning and got out of a jam and pitched one-hit ball over 2.1 innings for the win (2-1). He struck out three and walked one. Knowling finished his IPFW career with an outstanding record of 9-2.
Tromblee got the loss (2-4) going just two-third of a inning.
In Game 2, IPFW fell behind early as Centenary designated hitter Michael Tompkins led off the second with a homer to right field off of starter Samuel Walker.
The 'Dons got that run right back as VanDriessche blasted his 18th homer of the year to lead off the bottom of the second. VanDriessche finished his career at IPFW with a school record 38 homers.
In the 3rd inning IPFW made it 2-1 on an RBI single by first baseman A.J. Christensen.
Tompkins knotted it at 2-2 in the top of the 4th with his second solo shot of the game and the fifth of the season.
The fifth inning is when the season ended for the Mastodons. Shepard doubled to left field to plate a pair and the next batter, Ross, homered off of reliever Matt Ransbottom to make it 6-2.
IPFW was not able to push any more runs across against the Gents' staff and would fall out of playoff contention.
Justin Kraft got the win for Centenary (4-5). He pitched three scoreless four-hit innings.
Walker took the loss (3-6). He gave up five runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked two.
IPFW finishes the 2010 season with an overall record of 17-38 and a Summit League mark of 13-15 which is the best record the team has put together in its three-years of play in the conference.
IPFW also said goodbye to seniors Jordan Kohler, Andrew Emge, Ryan Beer, Scott Micinski, Jason Doerffler, Joel Washko, Brandon Knowling, Matt Antos and Shaun VanDriessche.
Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, Centenary, and Oakland will now play for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA baseball Tournament Regionals.
~Dons~
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Knowling, Brandon (2-1)
L: Stephen Tromblee (2-4)
Batting:
HR: Cliff Shepard 1 ; Tell Ross 1
RBI: Cliff Shepard 2 ; Tell Ross 1
SH: Alex Todd 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scott Pasket 1 ; Cliff Shepard 1 ; Tell Ross 1
CS: Michael Tompkins 1
Batting:
2B: Dudley, Kurt 1
3B: Clark, Brett 1
RBI: Washko, Joel 2 ; VanDriessche, Shaun 1 ; Miller, Cory 1
SH: Landwehr, Brendan 1
SF: VanDriessche, Shaun 1 ; Miller, Cory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Clark, Brett 1 ; VanDriessche, Shaun 1 ; Dudley, Kurt 2
