Baseball Heads Back to World Series
with 8-2 Win Over Rowan
NEWARK, N.J.
(5/18/08) - Senior Andy Cupido (South Plainfield,
N.J.) struck out a career-high nine batters and went the
distance to lead Kean University to back-to-back NCAA Division III
World Series appearances with the 8-2 victory over second-seeded
Rowan University in the 2008 NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic
Baseball Regional Tournament at Bears and Eagles Riverfront
Stadium.
Seniors Derek Gianakas (Edison, N.J.) and
Kevin O'Neill (Union, N.J.) each homered in a
game-turning sixth inning, while Cupido scattered six hits to earn
his first complete game victory of the season.
The Cougars look to defend their national championship and head
to their second straight World Series riding a 12-game win streak,
while having also won 12 straight NCAA tournament games dating back
to last year's title run. Kean faces Chapman University in
the opening round of the World Series on Friday, May 23 in
Appleton, Wis.
After a nearly three hour rain delay, the Cougars opened the
bottom of the first inning with back-to-back singles by senior
Maikel De La Rosa (Newark, N.J.) and sophomore
Chris Carrano (Lincoln Park, N.J.). After
stolen bases moved them over to second and third base,
respectively, senior Eric Ammirata (Hamilton,
N.J.) had an RBI groundout and Gianakas added a RBI single
for the 2-0 lead.
The Profs cut the deficit in half with a run in the top of the
fourth inning, as junior John McMullin (Woodbury, N.J.)
doubled to right-center to drive in junior Tom Ready (Blenheim,
N.J.), who led the inning off with a single. An inning
later, Rowan tied the game on a RBI infield single by Joe
Franceschini (Toms River, N.J.).
Kean answered right back in the bottom half of the inning to
regain the lead for good when sophomore Mike Moceri
(Yardville, N.J.) doubled to right center to drive in
Ammirata and Gianakas.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars broke the game open, as
O'Neill led off with a solo homerun and Gianakas followed four
batters later with a two-out, two run blast to left field for the
7-2 lead.
The Cougars tacked on the final run of the Mid-Atlantic Regional
in the seventh when rookie Gabe Ramirez (North Bergen,
N.J.) was hit by a pitch and later scored on an error.
After a lead-off single in the top of the ninth inning for
Rowan, Cupido struck out his ninth Prof of the game before forcing
the game-ending double play to send the Cougars to Appleton for the
second-straight season.
Gianakas finished 2-of-4 with three RBI and two runs scored,
while Ammirata added two hits, two runs scored and one RBI.
Cupido, who earned the victories in last year's national
championship game and in this season's New Jersey Athletic
Conference game, improved to 4-0 in his fifth start of the
year.
For the Profs, Ready and McMullin each had two hits, with Ready
scoring once and McMullin driving in one.
All-Tournament Team
Nelson Gomez, Keystone
Giovannie Sanchez, Keystone
Sheldon Witmer, Messiah
Chris Esperon, TCNJ
Garrett Mull, Rowan
John McMullin, Rowan
Ryan Kulik, Rowan
Brandon Aich, Kean
Chris Carrano, Kean
Maikel De La Rosa, Kean
Derek Gianakas, Kean
