BOX SCORE
FROSTBURG, Md. – The Wesley baseball team capitalized on every Frostburg State mistake as it recorded a 6-3 victory in the first round of the ECAC South Regional Tournament, Wednesday afternoon. Five of the Wolverines six runs were unearned en route to eliminating the Bobcats.
The Wolverines (25-16-1) took the early advantage with two runs in the top of the first inning off FSU (25-16) starter
Trevor Conner (Dharhan, Saudi Arabia/Kent School). Kevin Murphy reached on a hard-hit single to the left side and reached second on a throwing error on a Grant Morlock fielders choice.
The Bobcat defense never found its usual self as it allowed three additional unearned runs with one in the second inning and two in the fifth as Wesley pulled away to a 5-0 lead. Conner was charged with five runs in 5.1 innings of work with only one being earned before being relieved by a host of pitchers to setup situational matchups.
In the bottom of the fifth FSU's offense was provided a spark from senior
Mike Jester (Preston, Md./Colonel Richardson) who led the inning off with a double deep to center field. The Bobcats capitalized on having the leadoff runner aboard as classmate
Pat Hendricks (New Milford, Conn./New Milford) drove a hard line-drive past the WC third basemen reduce the deficit to 5-1.
Frostburg State continued its rally against Wesley reliever Kyle McGuire as leading hitter
Pat Sapp (Newark, Del./Caravel Academy) lead the sixth inning off with a single through the right side. Junior
Joe Garrity (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) followed with a double scorched down the right field line to plate Sapp. Senior
Joe Clark (Chesapeake, Va./Western Albemarle) grabbed his 31st RBI of the season by knocking home Garrity with a hard ground ball to the shortstop in order to give FSU hope by cutting the lead to 5-3.
The Bobcats pitched their way into a jam in the seventh inning as the Wolverines plated another unearned run after back-to-back batters were hit by pitches by two FSU relievers. After retiring the FSU side on the eighth Wesley brought in closer Chris Koch in an attempt to seal the win and advance to the next round.
Frostburg State did not roll over against Koch who touts an impressive 1.04 ERA as
Timothy Sutcliffe (Lansdale, Pa./Christopher Dock) reached base to lead off the inning. Koch then regained his composure to retire the next three batters in order, but not before Jester sent a towering ball that fought against a hard gusting wind only to be caught at the wall to give the Wolverines the 6-3 victory.
Sapp and Garrity led FSU at the plate in the contest with each recording a 2-for-4 afternoon and each scoring a run.
The loss concludes play for Frostburg State this season with a 25-16 record, while the ECAC bid was its first since 2001. The 2009 seniors also conclude their time with the FSU program and should be proud of their accomplishments as in their four years the Bobcats registered an 82-42 overall record, while capturing two AMCC Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.