Eastlake, Ohio: After an opening round loss to East Texas Baptist, the No. 1 Denison Big Red had to claw through the loser's bracket, downing Johns Hopkins and Baldwin Wallace en route to a rematch with the Tigers. ETBU, after snapping the Big Red's 44-game win streak, narrowly escaped the Yellow Jackets in a 7-6 victory.
Needing to win two to advance, Denison notched a game one victory with a 13-2 decision, highlighted by a complete game from Mahoney Daunic on the mound and a pair of homers from Erik Sundgren and Nate Lloyd at the dish.
CWS Bracket 1 Game 6: No. 1 Denison 13, No. 8 ETBU 2
The Big Red faced elimination for the third game in a row after an opening round loss to the Tigers of East Texas Baptist. Coming from the loser's bracket, the No. 1 Denison team played as the away team for the first time this weekend.
The junior lefty Cody Myers retired the Big Red straight in the top of the first. Sophomore Mahoney Daunic got his fourth start of the season for the Big Red. After the first pitch of the frame was launched into left field, the righty retired three straight.
Through the second and third innings, Myers and Daunic went toe to toe, allowing no hits over the frames. However, the Big Red bats broke things open in the top of the fourth. Jack Lutte kicked off the five-run inning with a base hit into right field. With a 2-2 count, All-American centerfielder Erik Sundgren went yard backside, clearing the fence for his 30th career home run to take a 2-0 lead. Sundgren is now tied for the Denison career home run record with Eric Colaco ('25) and Brian McAuliffe ('21). The Big Red were not done, as Jack Rollo knocked a base hit before Kelly Crittenberger grounded into a fielder's choice. With two outs, a single from Andrew Fazio scored Crittenberger from second and pushed the lead to 3-0. To cap off the five-run, six-hit inning, Nate Lloyd slammed a two-run homer over the left field wall to take a 5-0 lead. Daunic responded in the bottom of the frame with a three-up, three-down inning.
In the top of the sixth, Sundgren kicked things off with a base hit into right field. The speedster set up an RBI double from Max Fishbein, extending the Denison lead to 6-0. The Tigers would strike back in the home half of the inning, plating two runs on three hits to cut the Denison lead down to 6-2.
Following a scoreless seventh inning, the Big Red bats struck again in the top of the penultimate inning. Fishbein led off the frame with a double into left-center. Kelly Crittenberger drew a walk before a single from Andrew Fazio moved runners station to station to load the bases. With one out and full count, Lloyd drew a walk to plate the first run of the eighth inning. Cade Nowik sent a chopper up the middle that resulted in an out at second; however, a throwing error scored two runs for Denison to take a 9-2 lead. With two outs back to the top of the order, a single from Vega was followed by a base clearing double from Lutte that pushed the lead to 11-2. With two outs and a 3-2 count, Sundgren put the punctuation mark on the six-run, five-hit inning, with a rocket into left field that pushed the lead to 12-2.Â
Daunic continued to dominate on the mound, firing zeroes in the bottom of the eighth. A double into deep right field from Crittenberger set up the final punch from the Big Red as Lloyd fought off an inside pitch into left field that pushed the lead to 11. In the bottom of the final frame, Daunic slammed the door shut. The sophomore followed up a groundout with a big-time swinging strikeout. Down to their final strike, the Tigers rolled a grounder to Fishbein at first to force the if necessary game later tonight.Â
The showing from Daunic marks Denison's first complete game since March of 2025. The righty surrendered two runs on five hits over 9.0 innings while striking out five. Daunic moves to 5-0 on the season with the win.
In the box, the 16 hit showcase was highlighted by homers from Sundgren and Lloyd. Sundgren led the way with a 3-5 performance with three RBIs. Lloyd was 2-4 with four RBIs. Lutte, Fishbein, Fazio, and Nowik also collected multiple hits in the win.
Up Next: Denison will play ETBU again tonight for a spot in the National Championship. First pitch is tentatively scheduled for 4:45 p.m. at Classic Park.
