Granville, Ohio: Following a historic 40-1 season and capturing their 7th consecutive automatic qualifier, the Denison Big Red earned a bid to host the Granville Regional. The Big Red are joined in Granville by the Cortland Dragons, Kalamazoo Hornets, and Grinnell Pioneers. In game one, Denison took on Grinnell in the opening round.
The Big Red were able to extend the season-long winning streak to 40 games with a walkoff 5-4 victory, highlighted by the walkoff knock from senior Cade Nowik. The Big Red move into the winner's bracket and will take on the winner of Cortland and Kalamazoo.
Regional Game 1: No. 1 Denison 5, Grinnell 4
To kick off the Granville Regional, Big Red senior Will Rettig and Pioneer sophomore Shea Goel entered an early pitcher's duel. After two scoreless frames, Grinnell struck first with two runs on three hits to take the early 2-0 lead in the top of the third.
However, the Big Red lineup was quick to respond in the home half of the inning. Andrew Fazio led off the inning with a knock into center field before a drawn walk from Nate Lloyd, and a perfectly placed bunt from Bobby Haarde loaded the bases. A pair of sacrifice flies from Eron Vega and Erik Sundgren knotted it up at two all.
Rettig in his 13th start of the season, retired after 4.2 innings of work on the mound. Fellow senior Ryan Paganelis took over with runners at first and second base with two outs. The Big Red leader in appearances slammed the door shut on the inning with a looking strike three to keep it even heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The Pioneer ace Goel also retired in the fifth inning. After a drawn walk from Lutte, Sundgren roped a double up the middle to put runners in scoring position with one out. Another walk from Kelly Crittenberger gave the Big Red bases loaded but the Pioneers prevailed and were able to keep Denison off the scoreboard.
In the sixth inning, sophomore Cooper Marrs came out of the bullpen for the Big Red. The righty fired a three-up, three-down inning with two strikeouts. The defensive showcase was matched by Grinnell, who also delivered a 1-2-3 inning.
Marrs continued to dominate the Pioneer lineup in the top of the seventh, delivering another pair of strikeouts to retire the side. In the bottom of the frame, the nation's No. 1 team broke the scoreless streak courtesy of a backside base hit from Max Fishbein that scored Sundgren from second base to plate the go-ahead run.
With a 3-2 lead, Marrs trotted back out to the mound with both teams down to their final six outs. With one down, the Pioneers strung together three base hits to score the tying run. With runners at second and third and two outs, first-year Devin Parker relieved Marrs after 2.2 innings with five strikeouts. Grinnell was able to take a 4-3 lead courtesy of a base hit into left field. Parker stood tall with bases loaded and recorded a swinging strike three to close the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Fazio led off with a five-pitch walk before Brady Olsen pinch ran. Olsen advanced to second on a wild pitch before a sacrifice bunt from Nate Lloyd put the tying run 90 feet away. In a pinch hit, Jack Rollo laced an RBI single up the middle to knot it up at four all going into the final frame.
In the top of the ninth, Parker was surgical, firing back-to-back looking strike threes to retire the side and send the Big Red into its final at bat. The Pioneers recorded two quick outs to leave Denison down to its final out. Crittenberger launched a stand-up double off the left center wall. With the winning run in scoring position, Nowik poked a double into the right-center gap to plate the walk-off run to secure Denison's 40th consecutive win and punch their ticket into the Granville Regional winner's bracket.
Following Rettig's 13th start, the Big Red bullpen saw three additional arms of Paganelis, Marrs, and Parker. The staff combined for 14 strikeouts and allowed just two walks. Parker was credited with the win to move to 4-1 on the year.
At the dish, the Denison lineup tallied nine hits. Fazio and Sundgren were the lone batters to record multiple hits. The performance was highlighted by the crucial double from Crittenberger that was followed by the walk-off single from Nowik.
Up Next: The Big Red will take on the winner of Cortland and Kalamazoo in game four of the Granville Regional at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 16.
