Box Score RINDGE, N.H. – Fourth-seeded Wilmington (Del.) University plated three runs in the top of the eighth inning as it rallied past third-seeded Southern New Hampshire University for a 3-2 win in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship East Regional Thursday night at Pappas Field on the campus of Franklin Pierce University. The Wildcats improve to 34-12 and face No. 2 seed Stonehill College Friday night, while the Penmen (30-13) face elimination tomorrow in a 3:00 game against No. 6 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Penmen starter Cole Warren (Bedford, N.H.) was cruising through the first seven innings, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth and allowing just two hits to that point. He opened the eighth by hitting Christian Adorno and Sean Feeney to give the Wildcats two on and no out. After a strikeout, Frank Samluk doubled to the gap in right center to score Adorno and move Feeney to third. Feeney scored and Samluk went to third on a passed ball, then a liner by Jon Castro to left-center was caught by Kyle McGinnity (Northboro, Mass.) on a dive, but Samluk scampered home with the go-ahead run. After the next batter reached on an error, Warren was lifted for Jake Walkinshaw (Seymour, Conn.), who got out of the eighth on one pitch with a liner back to the mound.
Southern New Hampshire staked itself to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Zach Goldstein (Merrick, N.Y.) led off on a broken-bat single, then Manny Cruz (Wolcott, Conn.) homered to right-center, his third round-tripper of the year.
SNHU got the tying run aboard in the ninth as Alejandro Diaz (Old Bridge, N.J.) led off with a single up the middle off All-Region closer Tyler Fries, but back-to-back strikeouts and a pop out ended the threat.
Warren, making his first appearance since April 22, struck out 10 without issuing a walk and allowed three hits, but hit four batters. Two of his three runs were earned. Jamie Treml improved to 8-0 for the Wildcats, fanning 12 in eight innings against one walk and scattering five hits before giving way to Fries, who notched his 11th save.
Cruz went 3-4 at the plate for Southern New Hampshire as the Penmen outhit the Wildcats 6-3.
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