Published: May 10, 2008 11:15 pm            

Rose-Hulman forces championship game in HCAC baseball tournament

Amelia, Ohio — Rose-Hulman won a pair of games to force a final championship contest in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, before the Engineers fell in the league title matchup.

The Engineers, one loss away from elimination, beat Franklin 9-5 and Transylvania 16-10 in 10 innings to force a winner-take-all rematch against Transylvania. The fatigue of 28 innings was too much, however, as Rose-Hulman succumbed to Transylvania 16-10 in the championship game.

The Engineers complete the regular season with a 31-13 mark for the second most victories in school history. Rose-Hulman will await the release of the 54-team NCAA Division III Tournament field on Monday to see if the team will be awarded one of 14 at-large bids to the event. Rose-Hulman is a host school.

Rose-Hulman relied on a game-winning home run by sophomore Keenan Long to defeat Transylvania 5-4 in 10 innings to force the additional title contest. His blast to center field snapped a 4-4 tie and gave the Engineers their fourth victory in two days.

The home run followed a dramatic top of the 10th inning that featured the Engineers working out of a bases loaded, no-out jam with no runs scoring.

Long slapped two hits and scored three runs with the walk off home run to lead the Engineer offense. Junior Chandler Kent and senior Michael Matsui each slapped three hits for Rose-Hulman, including two RBIs for Matsui and one run and one RBI for Kent.

The Engineers rallied from a 4-3 deficit with one run in the eighth inning to force the extra frames. Matsui lined a two-out, run scoring single to plate Long with the tying run.

In Saturday's 9-5 victory over Franklin, Chandler Kent led the Engineers with three hits, including a two-run triple, and three RBIs. Sophomore Andrew Bilse put the team ahead 5-4 with a sixth inning triple and had two hits, three runs scored and two RBIs for Rose-Hulman. Senior Luis Bougrat earned a complete game victory. Bougrat improved to 6-2 on the campaign by scattering eight hits and allowed five earned runs in the victory.

In the nightcap, Transylvania scored seven times in the second and six times in the fourth to earn the win. Phil Blakely slapped three hits with five RBIs, and Bryan Baker added a bases loaded triple to lead the Pioneer offensive effort.

For Rose-Hulman, Long finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs in an effort that included his seventh home run of the season. Long blasted a total of four home runs in the two day tournament.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.