PHILADELPHIA – After Dominican broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the top of the ninth, the Thomas Jefferson University baseball team rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame but came up just short of a conference title with a 6-5 loss to the Chargers in the CACC Championship Game on Saturday.
The Rams (23-11) will have to wait until Sunday, May 23 to find out if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The live selection show airs at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.
GAMEPLAY
The two starting pitchers, Jefferson's
Jack Galligan and Dominican's Jaden Diaz-Lambert, went toe-to-toe for the first four frames with neither allowing a run. The Chargers broke through for the first run in the fifth with a solo homer to left center. The Rams responded in the bottom of the inning with
Ryan Sawyer driving in
Ryan Coyle with a base hit to tie the game. Dominican went back on top in the sixth after a run-scoring single.
Dylan Rees led off the bottom of the seventh with a long ball over the fence in left to even the score at two.
The Chargers began the ninth with a base hit. After a fly out, Dominican recorded a hit by pitch and a walk to load the bases. Shane Hewlette followed with a bases-clearing, three-run triple to give his team a 5-2 lead. Hewlette was named the tournament MVP. After a strikeout, the Chargers hit an RBI double for a key run that made it 6-2.
In the bottom of the inning, Rees reached first on an error with one out.
Alex Gonzalez and
Ryan Coyle had back-to-back singles, with Coyle scoring Rees to make it 6-3.
Richard Joa walked to load the bases then Gonzalez scored on a fielder's choice. With the score 6-4 and two outs, a wild pitch allowed Coyle to score to make it a one-run game. Jefferson had the tying run in scoring position but a strikeout ended the game and gave Dominican the CACC title.
QUICK HITS
Alex Gonzalez: 1-3, R, BB
Ryan Coyle: 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Ryan Sawyer: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Dylan Rees: 1-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
CACC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ryan Sawyer,
Alex Gonzalez,
Jack Galligan, and
Efrain Santiago were chosen to the CACC All-Tournament Team.
CACC TOP XVI AWARD
Bryce Herman was the winner of the CACC Top XVI Award for the second straight year. The award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the CACC championships. Herman is the fourth Jefferson student-athlete to receive the award this year.
NOTES
- It was the Rams' second appearance in the CACC Championship Game.
