WICHITA,
Kan.- After more
than a ten-year drought, Wichita State clenches a regional championship by
defeating Arizona, 3-0, Monday night at Eck Stadium.
Travis
Banwart (10-5) came back from an all but impressive outing Friday night to
throw a two-hitter against the Wildcats. Banwart threw 7.2 scoreless innings
and tied his career-best in strikeouts with 12.
The junior
right-hander faced the minimum number of batters through four innings, while
striking out the side in the bottom half of the fourth. The Wildcats didn't
manage a hit until the fifth, a Bill Rhinehart single to right field. Rhinehart
had drawn a walk in the second, but Brad Glenn cleared the bases by hitting
into a double play.
Noah Krol
earned his twelfth save of the year, coming in with the tying run at the plate
and two out in the eighth inning. Krol completed a hitless 1.1 innings and
struck out all four batters he faced.
Wichita
State had base runners in every inning except the eighth, but only managed to
take advantage in one. That was all the Shockers would need, however, as
Banwart and Krol held Arizona at bay, allowing a total of six runners all
night.
The
Shockers broke through when Tyler Weber hit a homerun to left field in the top
of the fifth. Dusty Coleman was hit by a pitch and Andy Dirks took one up the
middle to keep the rally going. The Wildcats brought in ace Preston Guilmet and
senior Derek Schermerhorn greeted him with a double to left field that brought
in Coleman. Matt Brown crossed another run with a ground ball to second and
gave the Shockers a 3-0 lead.
Arizona
threatened in the sixth as Dwight Childs, who was hit by a pitch to lead off
the inning moved to second with a single by Jon Gaston. The Shockers were able
to turn a second double play to end the inning.
Schermerhorn
and Dirks each ended with two hits apiece. Gaston and Rhinehart had the only
hits for Arizona. Starter Mike Colla suffered the loss and fell to 3-3,
allowing all three earned runs on five hits.?
Wichita
State moves on to face UC Irvine in the Super Regional this weekend.
Schermerhorn
was named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Wichita Regional.
The
following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Catcher ?
Tyler Weber, Wichita State
First Base
? Derek Schermerhorn, Wichita State
Second Base
? Johnny Giavotella, New Orleans
Third Base
? Conor Gillaspie, Wichita State
Shortstop ?
Dusty Coleman, Wichita State
Designated
Hitter ? Josh Workman, Wichita State
Outfielder
? Bill Rhinehart, Arizona
Outfielder
? Andy Dirks, Wichita State
Outfielder
? Brandon Bowser, New Orleans
Pitcher ?
Travis Banwart, Wichita State
Pitcher ?
Jason Stoffel, Arizona
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