BROCKPORT, N.Y. – The second-seeded Baldwin Wallace University baseball team faced first-seeded Wheaton (Mass.) College in the NCAA Brockport Regional Final, defeating the Lyons in Clark V. Whited Complex by an 11-6 final score.
BW (35-11) earned the win, tallying 18 hits to score 11 runs in the Regional final game. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Lyons (32-12) to advance to BW's first-ever NCAA Super Regional series.
The Regional weekend was led by the 2022 Brockport Regional All-Tournament MVP, junior All-OAC first baseman Luke Vonderhaar (New Bremen). He batted .364 in the three games with a slugging average of 1.182. Vonderhaar hit a homerun in each of the regional games, and lead the team, crossing home plate six times.
Three other players were named Brockport Regional All-Tournament Team including freshman third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) for his walk-off single in game one, junior second baseman Ryan Guggenheim (Solon) for batting 5-13 and leading the team in RBIs with six, and senior All-OAC utility player Drew Wilson (Sagamore Hills/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) leading the team in batting average (.583), hitting 7-12, and earning the win on the mound in game one and in the championship game.
BW was led in the finals by senior All-Mideast Region shortstop Alex Ludwick (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan) as he batted 3-4 with three runs and three RBIs. Ludwick hit a two-run bomb to put the Yellow Jackets on the board and hit a double in the fifth.
Scoring Plays
- BW struck first on a two-run homerun by Ludwick
- Wheaton earned a run on a solo homerun over right field to make the score 2-1
- Junior All-OAC centerfielder Vincent Capolupo (Kenmore, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate) earned BW the 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the second on an RBI single to right field
- The Lyons tallied a run on a wild pitch in the fourth to close the gap to just one run again
- In the bottom of the fourth, BW earned three runs, highlighted by a two-run single by Guggenheim and an RBI single by Wilson
- The Yellow Jackets earned three more runs in the fifth, highlighted by an RBI double by Ludwick and the two-run shot over left center field by Vonderhaar (9-2 BW)
- Wheaton earns two runs in the top of the seventh on an RBI single up the middle (9-4)
- In the bottom of the seventh, a solo homerun over right centerfield by sopohomore catcher Mark Mohnickey, Jr (North Ridgeville/St. Edward) extended BW's lead to 10-4
- Wheaton scored one run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly ball to right field
- BW went up 11-5 on a score on a wild pitch in the eighth
- The Lyons earned one more run in the ninth on an RBI single through the right side but it wasn't enough as a fly out to right field pegged the third and final out as BW claimed the 11-6 victory
On the Mound
- Senior right hander Clay Anderson (Broadview Heights/Trinity) started on the mound, pitching four innings, allowing two runs on five hits, and struck out two batters
- Junior right hander Matt Sabin (Mentor) threw 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits
- Right hander Wilson closed and earned the win (8-2), throwing 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and struck out two batters
The Yellow Jackets will take on Endicott (Mass.) College in the NCAA Super Regional in a two-day series on Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28. The times and place of the Super Regional is to be determined, check the schedule page for updates.