Williams Takes Loss Despite Allowing No Earned Runs

WASHU-WHITEWATER BOX

Moline, Ill., May 14, 2009 – No. 4 seed Washington University in St. Louis made three costly errors in the bottom of the ninth inning as the No. 3 seed University of Wisconsin-Whitewater scored two unearned runs with two outs in the ninth for a 3-2 victory on Thursday night in 2009 NCAA Division III Baseball Central Regional held in Moline, Ill.

Tony Wong reached on an error by shortstop Joe Wenzel to start the bottom of the ninth, and then moved to second on a sacrifice by Matt Millar. Cory Trepanier popped up the ensuing pitch, but a miscommunication error in centerfield allowed the ball to drop for a base hit.

Williams got Travis Wessels on a pop-up to first for the second out, and then senior catcher Andy Webb attempted to pick off Trepanier at first and his ball sailed to right field allowing Tony Wong to score the tying run.

Williams then got No. 9 hitter Nick Rechlitz to pop up to centerfield, but senior Gregg Kennedy dropped the fly ball allowing Trepanier to score from second base for the game-winning run.
Williams (8-3), who tossed 132 pitches in the defeat, was the hard luck loser for the Bears allowing eight hits and no earned runs. He struck out six and extended his scoreless inning streak to 25 2/3 innings.

"All year we have thrived on defense, and tonight we fell apart in the ninth inning," said Washington University head coach Ric Lessmann. "It was an incredible effort tonight by Brian Williams. He pitched great and deserved the victory."

Washington University, which dropped to 25-11, takes on No. 1 seed and No. 5 ranked Carthage College on Friday at 1 p.m. in an elimination game for the Bears. Wisconsin-Whitewater, ranked No. 23, remains in the winner’s bracket and faces No. 2 seed and 13th-ranked Millsaps College on Friday at 4 p.m.

The Bears scored an unearned run in the top of the first capitalizing on two hits, an error and a hit-by-pitch. Senior Zander Lehmann reached on a fielder’s choice with one out, and moved to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. He moved to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on an infield single by Kennedy.

Junior Remy Midkiff led off the third with a single, his second of the game, and then scored on a triple to left centerfield by Lehmann to push the Bears’ lead to 2-0. The triple for Lehmann was the 10th of his career, moving him into eighth on the all-time Washington University list.

After allowing just three hits in the first four innings, Williams got in the trouble in the bottom of the fifth allowing two hits and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. He got Rechlitz on a pop-up to right, and then struck out leadoff hitter Matt Bayer on a 3-2 curveball to end the inning. Williams struck out Beyer the first three times at the plate.

UW-Whitewater, the 2005 NCAA Division III National Champion, scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh after junior Nick Vom Brack dropped a fly ball hit off the bat by Rechlitz scoring Travis Wessels.

The Bears had 10 hits in the loss but made four costly errors, which led to all three unearned runs. Midkiff finished the contest 3-for-3 with a walk, and led off the first, third and fifth innings with a single. Kennedy was 2-for-4 with an RBI, while sophomore Matt Bayer was 2-for-4 with 11 putouts at first base.

Aaron Dott (6-5) tossed a complete-game for the Warhawks allowing 10 hits and one earned run while striking out 12. Matt Millar and Wessels each had two hits for Wisconsin-Whitewater, which improved to 27-17.

Bear Notebook: The Bears have lost their last six NCAA Tournament games dating back to 2005 … Williams recorded his 200th career strikeout against UW-Whitewater … Washington U. is 0-7 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament … Rain is in the forecast for Friday in the Quad Cities, so please check the Washington University web site for updates.