DURHAM, N.C. (May 24, 2010) – After a marathon day of baseball on Sunday, both Kutztown University and the University of Southern Indiana will enjoy the 40-plus hours off until they take the field on the USA Sports Baseball Complex at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the second round of the NCAA Division II National Baseball Championship.
The Golden Bears (42-13) endured a nine hour, 11 minute contest with Franklin Pierce that suffered three delays. The first pitch of the Screaming Eagles (49-13) was thrown at 11:02 p.m. on Sunday and ended at 2:28 a.m. on Monday morning.
While there are no official NCAA records immediately available for the longest game that included stoppages, the Kutztown-FPU game was definitely longer time-wise than the 25-inning marathon between Texas and Boston College that took seven hours, three minutes to complete in 2008. The Texas-Boston College game is officially recognized the longest baseball game in NCAA history.
As if the lightning delay with a sunny sky and a power outage wasn't crazy enough, the Golden Bears had many other bizarre features in their game. The game featured five sacrifice bunts, two runners picked off and Brett Wigder had his second bases loaded walk-off single in the past five games.
The starting pitchers, Jonathan Grosse and Jose Macias, combined for 16 innings, seven hits, 17 strikeouts and each earned no-decisions.
Senior Mike Kacelowicz was 3-for-4 and scored the game winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Relief pitcher Mike Bucklin erased the Ravens threat in the top of the 12th with a pick off of Derek Ingui at second base.
In USI's late night/early morning tilt, it outlasted a five inning bottom of the ninth by Minnesota State for an 8-6 win. Taylor Dennis earned the win after seven innings of one-run ball. He struck out six batters. Wandy Rosario recorded a strikeout to pick up the save – his 14th of the season – and leave runners stranded on first and third.
Third baseman Wes Fink gave the offense a boost with a four RBI, 3-for-4 performance. Caleb Ehmke had a two singles, two runs scored and one RBI.
With Dennis used in the first game, the Eagles have a choice of viable arms to use against the Golden Bears. Trevor Leach has a team-high 11 wins, with a 3.00 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 105.0 innings pitched. However, Leach will not be available due to a four-game suspension from hitting a batter in the regional championship, along with teammate Dan Marcacci. Josh Schultze, who sports a 3.86 ERA with eight wins is the likely option.
The Golden Bears also have a plethora of pitching candidates for the second round tilt. Lefthander Nathan Reed, who pitched the Golden Bears past West Chester in the regional title game, or righty Tyler Persun could be called upon by head coach Chris Blum.
Reed leads the KU pitching staff in ERA (2.28), complete games (three), innings pitched (57), stikeouts (66) and batting average against (.159). Persun has an unblemished 6-0 record on the hill, with a 3.97 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched. With the extra days rest and limited use on Sunday night, relievers Adam Maini, Jordan Garcia and Bucklin could be ready to go if needed.
The winner of the game will advance to the semifinal round, while the loser will face the winner of Tuesday's 1 p.m. elimination game between Franklin Pierce and Minnesota State.
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