CMS Baseball Advances in NCAA Regionals with 10-5 win over Centenary

MARSHALL, Texas - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team set a program record with its 31st win, and picked up its first NCAA victory since 1996, when it defeated Centenary (La.) 10-5 on Saturday afternoon at East Texas Baptist, advancing through to play another elimination game later today at 6 p.m. (4 p.m. Pacific). 

CMS stands at 31-14 on the year after the win, passing the previous program record of 30, set by the 1972 team. The Stags will next play the loser of the winner's bracket game between East Texas Baptist and Concordia (Texas). East Texas Baptist advanced yesterday with a 5-2 win over Centenary, while Concordia defeated CMS 13-7.

In the Centerary contest, the Stags had four homers on from Bryce Didrickson, Andrew Mazzone, Adam Dapkewicz and Blaise Heher. Didrickson hit a two-run shot in the second inning to put CMS ahead 3-0, and Mazzone and Dapkewicz hit back-to-back solo shots in the fourth to stretch the lead to 5-0, and Heher hit a solo shot in the eighth to answer a Centenary run in the bottom of the seventh and make the score 10-1. 

Hamilton Finefrock started and went four shutout innings, striking out four and allowing two hits. Ethan Hemby came on in relief and threw three innings, allowing just an unearned run on an error in the seventh. Matthew Bergan pitched the eighth and allowed no hits, and Pieter van Wingerden got the last three outs, allowing just one hit to finish off the victory, getting the last out on a comebacker that he knocked down and flipped to first. 

CMS got the first run of the game in first inning, when Jack Potter hustled down the line to beat out a potential double play with the bases loaded and one out, allowing Heher to score. In the second, Rider Gordon singled, and Didrickson followed with a two-run blast to give CMS a 3-0 lead. 

Mazzone extended his CMS-record with his 20th home run, a solo shot in the fourth after he flew out to the wall in his first at-bat in the first inning. Dapkewicz then came up and made it back-to-back to push the lead to 5-0. 

CMS tacked on four more runs in the fifth, as Mazzone had an RBI single, Potter scored on a wild pitch, and Gordon and Tyler Shaw tacked on RBI singles. 

All nine starters in the batting order had at least one hit for CMS. Mazzone finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of loud outs, a fly ball to the wall and a line drive to shortstop. Gordon was also 3-for-5, and Dapkewicz finished 2-for-4. 

A win later today would put CMS through to tomorrow's regional finals, where it have to win twice in order to advance to next weekend's Super Regionals.