Game 14 - June 1, 1999
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Salem, Virginia - Sean Fleming and Buddy Hernandez combined for a six-hit shutout to lead North Carolina Wesleyan College to a 1-0 win over the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) in the 1999 NCAA Division III Baseball National Championship game.
Scott Robeson led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andy Jones. Robeson scored from second on a RBI single by Jeremy Stewart for what proved to be the only run of the game.
Fleming pitched seven innings, allowing four hits and fanning three to pick up his second win of the series. Hernandez pitched the final two innings for his second save of the series, and was the recipient of double plays to end threats in both the eighth and ninth innings.
"I just tried to stay relaxed out there," said Fleming. "I didn't want to get too nervous. The run in the first inning helped me stay relaxed. It's a lot easier when you know the offense is behind you."
St. Thomas had a good chance to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning with runners at the corners and one out. The Battling Bishops turned one of their many fine defensive plays of the series, as St. Thomas' Steve Aronson grounded into a pitcher-short-first double play to end the inning.
The Tommies had a pair of runners on base again in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a single by Matt Faulken and a walk. With runners on first and second and two outs, Dan Novak hit into a fielder's choice to strand two of the nine St. Thomas runners left on base.
NC Wesleyan started a two-out rally of its own in the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles by Brian Woolston and Robeson. Jones hit a two-hopper to third and St. Thomas' Ryan Hartung stepped on the bag for the force-out. NC Wesleyan's 10-hit performance included at least one in the opening seven innings, but after the run in the first the Bishops failed to get a runner in scoring position with less than two outs.
After walking Hartung to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning, Fleming was pulled in favor of Hernandez. After a sacrifice bunt to move Hartung to second, Hernandez walked Faulken to give St. Thomas runners on first and second with just one out. The Bishops turned another pitcher-short-first double play to work out of another jam.
St. Thomas loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth as Paul Rafferty doubled and Aronson singled to put runners at the corners. After Hernandez walked Jon Guion, Brad Bonine grounded into a third-second-first double play to end the game.
Woolston led the way for NC Wesleyan with a 2-for-3 performance, and Robeson and Stewart were both 2-for-4. Chris Olean threw a complete game for St. Thomas, scattering 10 hits and allowing just the one earned run in the first. Faulken, Aronson, and Rafferty all had two hits apiece
"I did not have my best stuff out there today, I just tried to throw strikes and let the guys behind me do the rest," said Olean. "No team from our conference has gotten even close to coming this far, so you can't call this season a disappointment."
The 1-0 tally in the championship game is the first-ever in Division III history, and just the third in all three NCAA divisions. Southern California won 1-0 games to win titles in 1957 and 1972. It also marked the second one-run game St. Thomas and NC Wesleyan played in the tournament this year, as the Bishops won a 6-5, 10-inning game on Sunday in Game 11.
"We had a lot of determination today and did not want to let it slip away ," said NC Wesleyan coach Charlie Long. "Sean (Fleming) did an outstanding job today, he got a lot of ground balls, that's his style, that's his key."
The baseball championship for North Carolina Wesleyan is its second, as the Battling Bishops claimed the title in 1989 with two wins over Cal State Stanislaus. NC Wesleyan was a perfect 8-0 in NCAA play and ends its season 42-9. St. Thomas ends its year with a 42-7 record.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
NC Wesleyan 1 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Scott Robeson cf.......... 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 Andy Jones 2b............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 5 Jeremy Stewart 3b......... 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 6 David Capobianco 1b....... 3 0 1 0 1 0 17 1 Barry Blake ss............ 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 Nick Buonocore dh......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Taylor Williams lf........ 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tim Autry lf.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tim Wright rf............. 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Dan Salay rf.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Woolston c.......... 3 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 Sean Fleming p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 Buddy Hernandez p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Totals.................... 33 1 10 1 1 1 27 22 St Thomas 0 Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Ryan Hartung 3b........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 7 Jake Mauer 2b............. 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 Matt Faulken dh........... 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 Rich Swenson rf........... 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 0 Dan Novak c............... 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Paul Rafferty 1b.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 13 0 Ryan Benson pr............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Steve Aronson lf.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Jon Guion ss.............. 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 Brad Bonine cf............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Chris Olean p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Totals.................... 29 0 6 0 5 3 27 16 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan 100 000 000 - 1 10 0 St Thomas 000 000 000 - 0 6 0 ---------------------------------------------- DP - NC Wesleyan 3; St Thomas 2. LOB - NC Wesleyan 7; St Thomas 9. 2B - T Wright; Rafferty. SB - Aronson. CS - T Wright. SH - A Jones; Mauer. NC Wesleyan IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Sean Fleming........ 7.0 4 0 0 3 3 24 28 Buddy Hernandez..... 2.0 2 0 0 2 0 5 8 St Thomas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Chris Olean......... 9.0 10 1 1 1 1 33 35 Win - Fleming 10-1. Loss - Olean 9-2. Save - Hernandez (7). HBP - by Fleming (Guion). Umpires - Home:Lopina 1st:Shelton 2nd:Vellek 3rd:Deshaies Start: 3:42 Time: 2:35 Attendance: 366 Fleming faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Story | Boxscore | Play-by-Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan 100 000 000 - 1 10 0 St Thomas 000 000 000 - 0 6 0 ---------------------------------------------- NC Wesleyan inning 1 Robeson singled to left field. A Jones grounded out to p, SAC; Robeson advanced to second. J Stewart singled to center field, RBI; Robeson scored. Capobianco walked; J Stewart advanced to second. Blake flied out to rf; J Stewart advanced to third. Buonocore reached on a fielder's choice; Capobianco out at second ss to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St Thomas inning 1 Hartung struck out swinging. Mauer grounded out to 3b. Faulken grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 2 T Williams grounded out to 2b. T Wright doubled to center field. T Wright out at third p to 3b, caught stealing. Woolston singled to left field. Robeson flied out to rf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. St Thomas inning 2 Swenson out at first 1b to p. Novak walked. Rafferty singled to right field; Novak advanced to third. Aronson grounded into double play p to ss to 1b; Rafferty out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 3 A Jones grounded out to 3b. J Stewart singled to shortstop. Capobianco flied out to cf. Blake grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. St Thomas inning 3 Guion grounded out to p. Bonine struck out swinging. Hartung grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 4 Buonocore lined out to 3b. T Williams singled to third base. T Wright grounded out to 2b; T Williams advanced to second. Woolston grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. St Thomas inning 4 Mauer grounded out to 3b. Faulken singled to right field. Swenson struck out swinging. Novak grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 5 Robeson struck out swinging. A Jones singled to center field. J Stewart grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; A Jones out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St Thomas inning 5 Rafferty grounded out to 2b. Aronson singled to right field. Aronson stole second. Guion grounded out to 3b. Bonine popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 6 Capobianco singled to center field. Blake flied out to cf. Buonocore grounded into double play 2b to 1b; Capobianco out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St Thomas inning 6 Hartung flied out to rf. Mauer grounded out to 3b. Faulken singled to center field. Swenson walked; Faulken advanced to second. Novak reached on a fielder's choice; Swenson out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 7 T Williams grounded out to 3b. T Wright grounded out to ss. Woolston singled to center field. Robeson singled to left field; Woolston advanced to second. A Jones reached on a fielder's choice; Robeson advanced to second; Woolston out at third 3b unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. St Thomas inning 7 Rafferty grounded out to 2b. Aronson grounded out to ss. Guion hit by pitch. Bonine grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 8 J Stewart grounded out to 3b. Capobianco flied out to rf. Blake flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St Thomas inning 8 Hartung walked. Hernandez to p for Fleming. Mauer grounded out to p, SAC; Hartung advanced to second. Faulken walked. Swenson grounded into double play p to ss to 1b; Faulken out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. NC Wesleyan inning 9 Buonocore grounded out to 3b. T Williams grounded out to 3b. T Wright flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. St Thomas inning 9 Autry to lf for T Williams. Salay to rf for T Wright. Novak grounded out to 2b. Rafferty doubled to right field. Benson pinch ran for Rafferty. Aronson singled to center field; Benson advanced to third. Guion walked; Aronson advanced to second. Bonine grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Guion out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003