Denison University

Chillicothe, Ohio: Following a high-scoring victory over John Carroll in the opening round of the NCAC Tournament, the No. 1 Denison Big Red took on the DePauw Tigers in the winner's bracket, game three of the weekend. Contrary to yesterday, the battle was a low-scoring affair. Will Rettig moved to 11-0 on the season with a 7.0 inning start, while Jack Lutte and Andrew Fazio blasted homers. With the win, Denison moves to 39-1 on the year, rattling off 38 in a row, and will play in the NCAC Tournament Championship tomorrow morning. 

NCAC Game 3: No. 1 Denison 5, DePauw 3

After the 13-11 victory over John Carroll, senior Will Rettig got his twelfth start of the season. To kick off the game, the righty retired eight straight batters to keep the first three John Carroll frames empty.

The Big Red lineup grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third inning and did not give it up for the rest of the day. Andrew Fazio kicked off his banner day with a double into left-center. Bobby Haarde put down a great bunt to move Fazio over before a sacrifice fly from Eron Vega plated the first run of the day.

Rettig fired another shutout inning in the top of the fourth. In the home half of the inning, Fazio blasted a no-doubt two-run shot over the left field wall to extend the lead to 3-0. The next run for the Big Red came in homer fashion, this time in the bottom of the fifth, as Jack Lutte belted a solo shot in right field to take a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the sixth, the Tigers would claw back, plating a lone run with a string of balls put in play. However, the Big Red were quick to respond as Lutte picked up his second RBI of the day as a pull-side base hit scored Fazio.

In what would be the last full inning for Rettig, the senior recorded back-to-back looking strike threes to hold tight to the 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Big Red were able to load the bases, but ultimately, the Tigers' staff stood tall and stranded the runners.

After 7.0 innings, Jack Rollo relieved Rettig on the mound in the top of the eighth.. Rollo surrendered a pair of runs as DePauw cut the lead to 5-3. The Big Red were unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning.

With a two-run lead and just three outs needed to advance to the championship game, the Denison bullpen put the ball back into the hands of senior Ryan Paganelis. The righty, who leads the team in total appearances on the mound, gave up three runs yesterday against John Carroll. In the top of the ninth, the righty went three-up-three-down to secure Denison's 38th consecutive win and punch the ticket to the conference championship. 

On the mound, Rettig earned his 11th victory of the year and 29th of his career. Following Rettig's 7.0 inning start, the duo of Rollo and Paganelis closed the final 2.0 innings. Paganelis earned the save in his lone inning. Together, the staff walked zero and struck out four. 

At the dish, the 11 hit performance was highlighted by Fazio and Lutte. The pair tallied six hits, with Fazio delivering a 3-3 performance with a double and the two-run homer. Lutte knocked his 12th homer of the season, and 20th of his career.

Up Next: The Big Red will be back at VA Memorial Stadium for the championship round on Saturday, May 9th. They will await the winner of DePauw and John Carroll/Wittenberg.