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It was a wild start to the Misericordia baseball team’s first-ever game in the Division III Championship Series — but the Cougars are now one win away from a national championship.
Misericordia opened up an eight-run lead and held on behind an outstanding relief effort from Matt Lanzendorfer, beating Wisconsin-Whitewater 12-9 in the first of a three-game series on Tuesday night in Eastlake, Ohio.
A slugfest from the start, the Cougars looked like they might be able to cruise after the first few innings. But Wisconsin-Whitewater’s loaded lineup made sure the Cougars had to sweat a little bit if they wanted the win.
A two-run homer from Adam Cootway gave Wisconsin-Whitewater a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Misericordia would strike back in a big way.
The Cougars scored five runs in the second, and five runs in the fourth to open up a 10-2 lead on the Warhawks.
Things wouldn’t be so comfortable from there, however. Wisconsin-Whitewater responded with a six-run inning of their own in the top of the fifth, cutting Misericordia’s lead to 10-8.
Lanzendorfer came on to try and finish the fifth, and despite allowing one unearned run to score (credited to prior reliever Aidan Paduck), the lefty reliever did a great job settling the game down.
He would throw 4.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing just four hits and striking out three. He recorded a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning to shut the door on Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Five different players drove in two runs for the Cougars, with two RBI apiece from the top three guys in the lineup in Garrett McIlhenney, Jack Regenye and Brock Bollinger.
Jason Sanfilippo and Andrew Van Horn also drove in two runs apiece for the Cougars, while Gabe Bunn had three hits and scored three runs.
Game 2 of the Championship Series is set for 11 a.m. Thursday with Misericordia needing one win to claim the national championship. If the Warhawks win, a third and final game would be played at roughly 2:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Making their second straight appearance in the Division III World Series, the Cougars improved to 5-1 at this year’s tournament with wins over Pomona-Pitzer and top-seeded Endicott while going 2-1 against Lynchburg, knocking out the defending national champion.
Tuesday’s game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was moved up because of an inclement weather forecast.