Cougars Bow Out of World
Series
Grand Chute, Wis. (5/24/09) - John Semel
recorded three hits at the plate before pitching three scoreless
innings for the save as Chapman University notched a 7-5 win over
Kean University on Sunday in an elimination game of the NCAA
Division III Baseball Championship at Fox Cities Stadium.
The Cougars fall to 39-11 for the second straight season after
being eliminated in this year's tournament.
Chapman's Ryan Prechtl launched a two-run home run during the
sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie. The Panthers equaled the
score earlier in the frame on a run-scoring single by Joe Lehman.
Semel entered the contest with a 6-5 advantage in the seventh
inning, and he struck out five of the game's final eight
outs. It was his ninth save of the season.
Lehman got the Panthers on the board during the second inning with
a run-scoring double to the gap in left-center field. He
tacked on his third RBI to make it a 7-5 in the eighth.
Chapman went ahead, 2-0, on a throwing error in the fourth
inning. A single from Patrick Ohail then made it a 3-0 lead
during the top of the fifth.
Kean rallied with four runs in the bottom of the fifth,
featuring two-run singles by D.J. Breckenridge (Fair Haven,
N.J.) and Mike Moceri (Yardville,
N.J.). The Cougars appeared to add another run on a
shallow fly ball out, but the runner was called out on the appeal
after the third base umpire said he did not tag up, ending the
inning and the rally.
The Panthers also turned a traditional double play in the fourth
inning and a double play helped by batter's interference during the
second. The Cougars lost scoring chances in the first and
third frames when it had a pair of runners caught stealing.
Kean opened the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles,
but Semel retired the next three batters to preserve the victory.
Moceri totaled three hits with two RBI to set the new
single-season RBI record at KU with 59. Mike Diaz
(Westfield, N.J.) added three hits as the Cougars finished
with 15.
The win went to Ben Levitt (3-1), who pitched in relief and
allowed one run over one and a third frames. Joe
Bartlinski (South Amboy, N.J.) (7-4) took the loss after
surrendering five earned runs in five and two third innings.
Senior Brandon Aich (Sayreville, N.J.) closed out
his Cougar career as he tossed the last three and a third innings
and gave up one run on two hits.
