Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Battling out of the elimination bracket, the Misericordia baseball team needed to beat defending Div. III national champs Lynchburg not once, but twice, on Monday.
Mission accomplished for the Cougars, who are headed to the Championship Series for the first time in school history.
Pinch hitter Jared Hoffman drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of a 3-2 victory to start the day for Misericordia, and pitcher Max Oliver twirled a complete-game gem as the Cougars bounced Lynchburg from the tournament with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
After knocking out top-seeded Endicott College on Sunday, Misericordia avenged their only loss of the tournament two-fold with the pair of victories over Lynchburg.
The Cougars fell behind early in the first game of the day, spotting Lynchburg a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning.
In the top of the fourth, Garrett McIlhenney led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Brett Bollinger sacrifice fly to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
The relief combination of Tyler Leonard and Joe Valenti held the Hornets scoreless over the final 5.2 innings, and Bollinger would single up the middle to tie the game at 2 in the top of the eighth.
Hoffman got the call to pinch-hit in the ninth inning and delivered, knocking in Jason Sanfilippo after Sanfilippo led off the inning with a single.
Valenti stranded two baserunners in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win and send these two teams to a winner-take-all Game 2.
There, Oliver picked up the win with a complete game, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks while striking out five.
Misericordia took a 1-0 lead in the third with a squeeze bunt scoring Gabe Bunn (Bunn reached to lead off the inning by getting hit by a pitch, something the Cougars have mastered over the years).
After Lynchburg briefly tied the game 1-1, the Cougars took the lead for good in the seventh inning. Owen Cordner’s single brought home the go-ahead run and, with the bases loaded, Jack Regenye got hit by a pitch to make it a 3-1 Misericordia lead.
The Cougars added two more runs in the eighth, and Oliver closed the door on Lynchburg in the ninth to send Misericordia to the championship series.
Misericordia will play the winner of Monday night’s game between Wisconsin-Whitewater and Salva Regina, after Wisconsin-Whitewater forced a Game 2 with a win over Salve Regina earlier on Monday.
The Championship Series will get started on Wednesday at noon, with the second game set for 11 a.m. on Thursday. If necessary, a third game would follow at around 2:15 p.m. on Thursday.