» Athletics › Baseball

May 19, 2006

Frostburg State 3, Gwynedd-Mercy 2
2006 NCAA Tournament Mid-Atlantic Regional
Griffins lose in ninth inning

Junior Josh Thomas struck out five and walked just one in the complete game loss. (GMC Sports Information)

Box Score

BOYERTOWN, PA. -- Gwynedd-Mercy was knocked out of the 2006 NCAA Regional Tournament at Bear Stadium in Boyertown as Frostburg State's Brett Mitchell singled home the winning run in the 9th inning as the Bobcats defeated the Griffins, 3-2, Friday morning.

Starter Josh Thomas (Severn, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) suffered the loss as the junior went the distance, allowing two unearned runs on nine hits while fanning five and walking just one. FSU's John Micklus gave up two runs on 10 hits, while striking out six and walking five.

Gwynedd jumped ahead early, getting on the board in the first inning as senior Troy Peiffer (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) scored Ken Bengtson (Jamison, Pa./C.B. East) on a two-out double.

The Bobcats tied it with an unearned run in third as Mitchell would score on a sac fly off the bat of Mike Gitzen. After Mitchell reached on a hit by pitch and sacrificed to second, Bengtson couldn't handle a groundball to short allowing the runner to third.

Junior Matt Martin (Pottstown, Pa./St. Pius X) hit his first home run of the season in the fifth, a leadoff opposite field shot to right, putting the Griffins back on top, 2-1.

Freshman Ken Bengtson was 2-for-5 with a double and run scored. (GMC Sports Information)

GM threatened again in the sixth after a walk followed by two consecutive singles to load the bases, but were unable to plate a run as junior J.B. Meadows' (Pennsville, N.J./Pennsville) sharp liner was snagged by Bobcat 1B Allen Peake.

Peake would end another Griffin rally in the seventh with an inning-ending catch in foul territory. With Bengtson at third and Peiffer at the plate with two down, Peiffer fouled off a pitch towards the first-base side fence where Peake tracked it down and fell over the fence with the ball in his glove for the third out.

The Bobcats (29-12) took advantage the next at-bat and tied the game at 2-2 on a two-out RBI single from Chris Jones.

In the ninth and one out, Frostburg's Joe Daddura singled and Andrew Speights walked to get runners on first and second. After a sacrifice bunt to move the them up a base, Mitchell sent a liner into center to plate the winning run and knock Gwynedd out of the tournament.

Bengtson, Martin, and senior Ryan McMahon (Upper Darby, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) each had two hits apiece, but GM left 10 runners on base for the game.

The Griffins, who were making their third NCAA Tournament appearance, end season at 31-15.

Back to Baseball Main Page