One out was all that separated the Johns Hopkins baseball team from claiming its first Division III College World Series title.
But two singles and three walks took the dream away.
Johns Hopkins pitcher Matt Wiegand allowed two runs on two hits and three walks in the bottom of the ninth, as Trinity College rallied for a 5-4 win to clinch the Connecticut school?s first national title at Fox Cities Stadium inAppleton, Wisc., on Tuesday.
“There were 16 seniors who left their heart on the field today,” Johns Hopkins senior center fielder Rob Pietroforte said. “We came into today wanting to win two games, and even though we won one and lost the other, it?s tough to get too upset over what we accomplished.”
The Bantams (45-1) won the game after Wiegand walked third baseman Guy Gogliettino with two outs and the bases loaded, allowing right fielder James Wood to score. One batter earlier, Wiegand walked center fielder Matt Sullivan with the bases loaded, allowing first baseman Kent Graham to tie the game, 4-4. Sullivan had reached base with a one-out single.
The loss denied Hopkins coach Bob Babb of his first national title in his 29th season at the Homewood campus. Babb is 829-288-10 in his coaching career at Johns Hopkins.
Trinity jumped outto a 2-0 lead after two innings on a run-scoring triple by Sullivan followed by a sacrifice fly by third baseman Tim Bourdon. Johns Hopkins (42-8) took a 3-2 lead after scoring once in the third and twice in the eighth on a two-run triple from Pietroforte, which scored right fielder Brian Youchak and second baseman Nate Adelman.
The Bantams tied the game in the eighth on pinch hitter Matt Stafford?s run-scoring single.
The Blue Jays, however, responded when first baseman Matt Benchener?s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth scored Tony Margve to give his team a 4-3 lead.
Johns Hopkins nearly won the game despite committing five errors and having to advance to the finals through the loser?s bracket, which required the Blue Jays to defeat the Bantams twice on Tuesday.
In that first game, pinch runner Isaac Katz scored on a wild pitch on a strikeout in the top of the ninth inning for the decisive run in a 4-3 win, giving Trinity its first loss of the season. Trinity was trying to become the first national champion to go undefeated.
“Clearly this was the best season in Johns Hopkins history and to come within inches of a national title is something to be proud of,” Babb said. “This year was my most rewarding, not just for the wins, but for the relationships I made with the players on this team. Hopefully, this season is a stepping stone for us to compete for a national title every year.”
