Game 1 Goes to Wooster, 13-8, as Bats Come Alive

Hosted by Wittenberg University
May 6-7, 2004 • Carleton Davidson Stadium • Springfield, Ohio

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The College of Wooster Fighting Scots came out swinging from the start to take a one-game lead in the best-of-3 North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament Championship Series at Carleton Davidson Stadium, home of the Wittenberg University Tigers. The Scots improved to 34-8 overall on the 2004 season with a convincing 13-8 victory over the Denison University Big Red.

The first four batters in the Wooster lineup collected extra-base hits in the top of the first inning, capped by a two-run home run by Kurt Kapferer. It was a stunning opening to the series, especially considering that Denison senior Cam Cowden was tagged so quickly. Cowden came into the game on a 16-inning scoreless streak, and he had allowed just 11 earned runs all season.

By the time he was finally lifted in the fifth inning, he had allowed 10 runs, all earned, on 12 hits. He took the pitching loss, his first of the season after 10 straight victories, including a no-hitter recently against Case Western Reserve.

He left the game a pitch too late, at least as far as Denison fans are concerned. With two outs and two on in the fifth inning, Cowden was visited by Denison Head Coach Barry Craddock, but he remained in the game to face Wooster's Jake Frank. On the very next pitch, Frank crushed a pitch into the trees beyond the fence in left-center field. That gave the Scots a 10-5 lead.

Denison, which came into the game batting .346 as a team and featured seven hitters in the lineup hitting better than .300 on the season, battled back several times. The Big Red's biggest inning was the third, a four-run frame highlighted by Brian Regan's two-run triple and A.J. Jezierski's RBI double. But Denison did the majority of its damage against Wooster starter Luke Katich, who lasted just four innings. After Frank's homer in the top of the fifth inning, Denison's Adam Mandel answered with a solo shot of his own to open the bottom of the inning, and Lee Fischer added a double. Katich was lifted in favor of Jon Oliver.

Oliver turned the tide for the Scots, getting the next three batters out to end the Denison threat and then going the rest of the way. He picked up his sixth win of the season by going five innings and allowing five hits and two runs, one earned. He struck out six of the 20 Denison batters he faced.

The two teams are scheduled to go back at it Friday at 4 p.m. If Wooster wins, the Scots will be crowned NCAC champions and will earn the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. If Denison wins, the two teams will play a third and final game of the series 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 4 p.m. game.