Gorloks Graduate To SLIAC Championship
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Greenville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
|
Webster | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 12 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Greenville | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 1 |
|
Webster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
Saturday marked a memorable day for the nine seniors on the Webster University baseball team, attending graduation ceremonies in the morning and capturing a SLIAC Championship later that night. Seniors Austin Beccue, Christian Dahncke, Dakota Defreitas, Ben Dinter, C.J. Lee, Talon Parke, K.J. Spisak, Conner Wardlaw, and Mike Wick concluded their college careers by winning an elusive SLIAC Tournament, marking the program's first title since 2014.
Webster, who had won their first two games of the tournament and were on a 21-game win streak, was forced to a second game on Saturday after Greenville University won the first game of championship Saturday 9-4; marking the fourth straight year the tournament would have a winner take all championship game.
The Gorloks came out swinging in the night's second game, plating four runs in the bottom of the first inning and controlling the game from the start. Adam Lovell singled with one out in the bottom of the first and would score when the next batter, Ben Dinter, put a pitch over the fence for a 2-0 Gorlok lead. Kyler Kent kept the hits going with a single up the middle and Ben Swords followed with a single of his own. Joe Swanson singled to right, scoring Kent and a squeeze play by Conner Wardlaw plated the fourth run of the inning with Swords racing home.
Dinter added to the Gorloks lead in the second with a sacrifice fly, scoring Matt Staker who reached on a hit by pitch. The Gorloks third inning got started with a Swords single and two batters later Danny Strohm would send him home with an RBI single to make the score 6-0 Webster. Webster added two more runs in the fourth, including an RBI single by Kyler Kent who set a new Webster single-season record with his 76th hit of the season.
Gorlok pitcher Sean Beaver kept the Panthers at bay, working 7 innings and scattering five hits while striking out four and walking just one. The only trouble he faced was in the first inning when Greenville loaded the bases. However, Beaver induced a 6-3 double play to end the threat and the inning. Beaver did not allow hit again until the fourth inning and concluded his night with a strikeout. Shane Donovan worked two scoreless innings in relief, striking out four including the final batter of the game in the win.
Webster earns the automatic qualifier berth from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and will now compete in the NCAA Division III Region Tournament, which they will host next week at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois. The Gorloks are the #1 ranked team in the latest NCAA Division III Central Region rankings and are #7 in the latest ABCA/Collegiate Baseball poll.
- #SLIACtion -
