Grand Chute, Wisc. – Freshman right-hander Phil Glinski (Green Bay, Wisc.) pitched 6.2 innings of scoreless ball to earn the win in relief and lead the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans to a 5-4 win over the Trinity College Bantams in an elimination game of the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament at Fox Cities Stadium this afternoon.
The Bantams close the season with a best-ever record of 27-12, while the Titans improve to 37-7 and will play tomorrow at noon against the loser of tonight’s game between Eastern Connecticut and Anderson.
The Bantams appeared poised to advance to tomorrow’s round, scoring runs in each of the first three innings to take a 4-1 lead one third of the way through the game. Sophomore Andrew Fries (Dublin, Ohio) singled home senior co-captain Jayme Dorr (Osterville, Mass.) in the first inning. Sophomore Jeff Natale (Hamden, Conn.) belted an RBI double and Dorr added an RBI single in the second frame, and Natale drove home sophomore Robert O’Leary (Easton, Mass.) in the third inning.
Trinity sophomore right-hander Chris Rodday (Concord, Mass.) cruised through the first four innings, allowed just a single unearned run, before senior Vince Mancuso (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisc.) started a two-out rally for the Titans with a single to leftfield. Junior Lucas Lechnir (Mosinee, Wisc.) doubled in Mancuso and later scored on a hit by freshman Evan Peterson (Howard, Wisc.) to cut the Trinity lead to one run at 4-3.
In the seventh inning, after Glinski had come in and pitched out of several jams to keep Trinity at bay through the middle innings, Wisc.-Oshkosh again slipped two runners across the plate despite outs by the first two batters of the inning. With two gone, Bantam freshman lefty Matt Krant (Portsmouth, N.H.) hit a batter and walked the next before yielding to classmate Kyle Cox (Hinsdale, Ill.). Cox gave up an RBI single to freshman Mike Mau (Barron, Wisc.) to tie the score at 4-4. Freshman Brian Foley (Hortonville, Wisc.) raced home from third after a Bantam throwing error during a pickoff play to account for what proved to be the winning run.
Glinski allowed eight hits after entering the game with one out in the third inning, holding the Bantams scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Fries walked to lead off the ninth inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and an infield hit by junior Eric Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.), but Glinski ended the rally and the Trinity season on a groundout. Four Bantam hurlers allowed only three earned runs, including two scoreless innings by senior closer Craig Tredenick (Prince Edward Island).
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Wisc.-Oshkosh (37-7) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 2 |
| Trinity, Conn. (27-12) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 2 |
BATTERY
WO- Brian Gerl, Andy Krau (2), Jeremiah Gowey (2), Phil Glinski (3) and
Korey Feiner.
TC- Chris Rodday, Matt Krant (5), Kyle Cox (7), Craig Tredenick (8) and
Andrew Fries.
WP: Glinski (3-0)
LP: Krant (3-2)
Offensive Highlights
WO- Mike Mau – three hits, Lucas Lechnir – two hits, two RBI, double,
David Young – two hits, Kyle Heckendorf – two hits, triple
TC- Jeff Natale – two hits, two RBI, double, Jayme Dorr – two hits, Rob
Dolliver – two hits, Eric Shattenkirk – two hits, Matt Engster – two hits.