GRANVILLE, Ohio (May 20, 2023) – The No. 9 nationally-ranked and top-seeded Denison University baseball team fell 10-6 against No. 12-ranked and second-seeded Baldwin Wallace University, but came back strong in the very next game with a one-hit shutout and 7-0 defeat of third-seeded Spalding University (Ky.) to advance to the Granville Regional Championship game on Sunday. It will be Denison's third straight appearance in the regional championship game.
 
Game 1 (Denison 6, Baldwin Wallace 10):

• After pitching the final two-thirds of the ninth inning to pick up the save in Denison's 8-7 win over Beloit College the day before on Friday, Nick Falter (7-1) took the mound to start against Baldwin Wallace on Saturday and got a 4-6-3 groundball double play to end the first inning and got a 6-4-3 double play for the first two outs of the second.
• Falter then finished off the second inning with a swinging strikeout to strand back-to-back two-out singles by the Yellow Jackets, and then the third inning started with back-to-back groundouts to Owen Wilson at shortstop before a nice play by third baseman Alex Vasquez to cut off a groundball and make a strong throw to first on a bang-bang play for the final out of the inning.
• In the top of the fourth inning, Falter struck out BWU's big hitter Luke Vonderhaar and then got another groundout to Wilson at short, all before an incredible diving stop and throw deep from the hole at second base by Josh Bohn.
• On the flip side, Denison's only baserunner in the first four innings against BWU's Nik Baldis (7-3) was Charlie Glennon with a pair of walks.
• Still in a scoreless game in the fifth inning, BWU's Nick Clark led off the top of the inning with a double after Denison's left fielder overran the ball. Then with two runners on and one out, the Yellow Jackets elected to put the runners in motion and saw the throw to third from the Big Red catcher sail into left field to bring in the first run of the game.
• Then with two outs and a runner on third, a perfectly placed ball by the Yellow Jackets in between third base and shortstop brought in another run to make it 2-0 in the fifth inning.
• Miscues on the basepaths haunted the Big Red in the bottom of the fifth as Bohn reached on an error at shortstop to lead off the inning, but was caught trying to be aggressive on a ball in the dirt on the at bat by Wilson and was thrown out at second base. Then after Wilson walked, he was gunned down on a strike-him-out, throw-him out to end the inning.
• After coming up short in their half of the fifth inning, the Big Red defense came to Falter's defense to keep the Yellow Jackets off the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. After a singe through the right side by Vonderhaar to lead it off, an error on a sacrifice bunt put two runners on base with nobody out. Fortunately for Denison, Wilson fielded the ball at short, stepped on second base and fired to first for the double play to make it a runner at third base with two outs, and then a groundout to Bohn at second base two batters later ended the inning and kept the score at a manageable 2-0 margin for the Big Red.
• However, Denison remained hitless against Baldis through six innings.
• The Big Red defense again had Falter's back in the seventh as after a leadoff single through the left side and a popout out on a sacrifice bunt attempt, the runner at first was thrown out at second by Glennon on a delayed steal attempt.
• That was followed by a flyout to the new Denison left fielder Kuyper Lashutka, and then finally in the bottom of the seventh, Denison got a hit as Glennon got on base for the third time in the game with a leadoff single to right center field.
• Then with one out, Head Coach Mike Deegan called for the hit and run, and it worked to perfection as Jake Welsch singled through the left side and Glennon advanced to third base.
• That extra base by Glennon paid dividends as Bohn just beat out a double play ball on the next at bat, allowing Glennon to score to get the Big Red on the board.
• Unfortunately, Falter and the Big Red bullpen could not keep it at a one-run deficit in the eighth inning as a leadoff error followed by a single through the left side by Vonderhaar and a bunt single loaded the bases with nobody out.
• That brought in George Viebrock, who was greeted with a two-run single through the right side to make it 4-1, and then after a run on a fielder's choice, Ryan Starr came in and did a great job with back-to-back strikeouts to strand two more runners in scoring position.
• Denison struck back in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting a one-out single to center field by freshman Cade Nowik and a two-out infield single to first base by Noah Leib to chase Baldis from the game.
• That was followed by a walk by Glennon to load the bases, which then led to a huge three-run double to left center field by Ari Fierer to get the Big Red back to within just one run at 5-4.
• Unfortunately, a swinging strikeout on a full count left the tying run on second base and the go-ahead run on first for Denison in the bottom of the eighth.
• Then in the top of the ninth, the Big Red pitchers were once again unable to keep it at a one-run deficit as a leadoff walk and a bunt single were followed by a sacrifice bunt by Vonderhaar to put two runners into scoring position, and then a wild pitch by Robbie Lee scored a run to make it 6-4.
• Yet another bunt led to another run on a fielder's choice to make it 7-4, and then the wheels came off with a two-run single through the right side followed by an error at second base on a stolen base attempt to score another run.
• Denison did score what would have been the tying run if not for the top of the ninth inning with an RBI-single to right field by Nowik in the bottom of the ninth, and then an RBI-single to right center by Leib finished off the scoring.
• Falter finished with seven innings pitched allowing nine hits, five total runs, two earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts while for Baldis, it was 7.2 innings pitched allowing four total runs, three earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts.
• Offensively for Denison, Nowik was 2-for-2 while Leib was 2-for-5 and Glennon was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and three walks.

 
Game 2 (Denison 7, Spalding 0):

• Welsch led off the top of the second inning with a double down the right field line before moving to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Bohn and scoring on an RBI-groundout by Max Fishbein.
• With two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the fifth, Denison's starting pitcher, Will Rettig (3-0), got a groundout to Fierer at third base to strand him.
• Denison then came out in the top of the sixth inning with a leadoff single to right field by Leib before a sacrifice bunt by Glennon moved Leib into scoring position. Then with two outs, a single through the left side by Welsch scored Leib to make it 2-0 Big Red.
• However, Denison left runners in scoring position in the first, fourth and fifth innings, and left two more runners in scoring position in the sixth.
• A nice play on a ball just over Rettig's outstretched glove by Wilson at short ended the bottom of the sixth inning for Spalding, but after a leadoff single up the middle by Nowik in the top of the seventh, the Big Red left their sixth runner in scoring position of the game.
• Rettig, meanwhile, was perfect through three innings and held Spalding hitless until a leadoff double to right center field in the bottom of the seventh inning.
• Rettig was able to get a flyout to the warning track in center field followed by a swinging strikeout, but then after a four-pitch walk followed by a 2-0 count on the next at bat, Coach Deegan made the call to bring in Fierer from third base to pitch with the bases loaded and two outs.
• Fierer was able to quickly get a flyout to Welsch in right field to preserve the shutout, and then in the top of the eighth, a one-out single to left field by Fierer led to a two-out RBI-single to right center field by Bohn to make it 3-0 Big Red.
• The two-out knocks continued as Vasquez singled to right center to put runners at the corners before Matt McClements singled to center to score Bohn and make it 4-0.
• Then after a walk by Wilson to load the bases, Eric Colaco got his first hit of the day with a two-run double through the left side to make it a 6-0 Denison lead.
• The Big Red batted around in the eighth as Glennon walked to score Wilson and make it 7-0.
• Fierer came back out to the mound to pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning followed by a 1-2-3 ninth with three straight groundouts to pick up his fifth save of the season.
• Rettig finished with 6.2 innings pitched allowing just the one hit and three walks while striking out four, and Fierer tossed 2.1 innings not allowing a single batter to reach base against him.
• At the plate, Leib, Fierer, Welsch and Bohn all finished with two hits.

Next up, Denison (36-9) will play Baldwin Wallace (33-10) in the regional championship game. The Big Red and the Yellow Jackets will square off beginning at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, with Baldwin Wallace as the home team for the first game, but it will take two wins from Denison to claim its first regional title in program history.