W&J Shuts Down Wooster To Stay Alive In NCAA Regional
MARIETTA, Ohio – Facing elimination, second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College shut out the sixth-seeded College of Wooster 8-0 on Thursday afternoon and advanced to day three of the NCAA Division III Baseball Mideast Regional at Don Schaly Stadium.
With the win, W&J (36-9) set a new school record for victories in a single season, surpassing the 2009 squad. The NCAA Division III Tournament victory was the third in school history and first since May 15, 2009, when the Presidents downed York (Pa.) by a 4-1 margin.
Sophomore Eddie Nogay (Weirton, W. Va./Madonna) tossed his second complete-game shutout to earn his seventh victory of the spring. Nogay (10-0 career record) scattered 11 hits and struck out two. The Fighting Scots (27-18) had base runners during each inning against Nogay, but he effectively worked out of trouble all day and held Wooster off the scoreboard.
The Presidents racked up 14 hits led by four in five at-bats from sophomore designated hitter Ronny Peirish (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland). Peirish knocked in three runs and scored once. All of W&J’s nine hitters reached base safely at least once during the game.
Sophomore right fielder Josh Staniscia (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional) produced two hits, along with a pair of RBI, scored twice. Senior right fielder Brian Szabo (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) recorded his second two-hit game of the regional, while sophomore first baseman D.J. Michalski (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) also added two hits.
W&J scored a pair of runs in the fourth on an RBI double by sophomore catcher Tyler Schultz (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) and a run-scoring base hit by Szabo.
Peirish knocked in his first run of the day with a single in the sixth to make the score 3-0 and added a two-run double in the next frame.
The Presidents advance to Game 10 of the regional and will face No. 1 seed Marietta, a 5-2 loser Thursday over No. 4 seed St. John Fisher. Game time will be 9:30 am on Friday.
