Box Score Head coach Bill Kurich had a memorable career 300th win, as the #24 ranked Webster University baseball team advanced to the NCAA III Waterloo Regional championship with a 4-2 win over #8 ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Waterloo, IA, on May 16.  The Gorloks will face Carthage College (WI) for the championship at 12 noon on May 17.
 
The Gorloks advance to championship game in hopes of the program's third regional win and third trip to the NCAA III Championships, also known as the World Series.
 
Matt Goro (SO, Wildwood, MO/Lafayette HS) started for Webster and went eight and a third strong innings before being bailed out by Dylan Dean Smith (SR, Albion, IL/Edwards County HS) in the ninth.
 
Stevens Point had a one out triple and single to score a run in the ninth to knock Goro out of the contest.  Smith, winner of the first two games for Webster, was called on for the third straight game.  Smith got the first batter he faced on a fly to left but an infield single put the tying run at first.
 
The next batter hit a grounder to short, but the runner off first had a running start and was safe on a fielder's choice at second to load the bases.  Smith got the next batter to foul out to third baseman Ryan Fischer (JR, Manchester, MO/Parkway South HS) for the final out.  Smith, 8-3 on the season, picked up his first save in his 20th appearance.
 
Goro improved to 5-0 on the year with the win.  He wound up going eight and a third innings, giving up nine hits and a walk, two runs (one earned), and striking out five.  Smith went two-thirds of an inning, giving up the one hit.  Smith's earned run average is a microscopic 0.69 in 39 innings on the season.
 
Webster took a 2-0 lead in the third.  Charlie Gandolfi (SR, Mundelein, IL/Mundelein HS) walked with one out and stole second.  Alec Bahnick (SO, Owensboro, KY/Owensboro Catholic HS) singled in Gandolfi.  Bahnick then stole second and scored on a Kyle Uhrich (SO, St. Louis, MO/Webster Groves HS) single with two out.
 
Stevens Point scored an unearned run in the fourth.  The Pointers had a one out single, and then a steal of second with the runner taking third on an error on the throw.   After a walk, a sacrifice fly cut the Webster lead to 2-1.
 
Webster added another run in the sixth.  Catcher Adam Naliwajko (SO, Mt. Prospect, IL/St. Viator HS) had a one out single.  Jake Celleghin (JR, Westfield, IN/Westfield HS) pinch ran and stole second.  Shortstop Matt Wollnik (SO, Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley HS) singled up the middle to score Celleghin and give Webster 3-1 lead. 
 
The Gorloks picked up another insurance run in the eighth when Uhrich hit a leadoff home run over the left field wall.  Uhrich set the Gorloks' season record for home runs in the process.  The round-tripper was Uhrich's 17th, passing Victor Valdez, who had 16 for Webster in 2010.  Uhrich is now tied for the NCAA III lead in home runs for 2015.
 
Uhrich was 2-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and a run scored.  Uhrich has 61 RBIs, third on Webster's all-time single season list.  Naliwajko was 3-3 and Bahnick 2-4 with an RBII, stolen base, and run.  Wollnik wound up 1-4 with an RBI.
 
Kurich is 300-114 in his collegiate head coaching career, all at Webster.  Webster is 33-13 on the season.  The Gorloks face Carthage for the championship and, in the double elimination format, would play the Red Men a second game if they would lose.  Webster beat Carthage in the first round, 4-3.