The Aurora University baseball team played to the last out of the 2022 NCAA Division III Regional Tournament, defeating Wisconsin-Whitewater 13-8 in the first championship game of the day and forcing a winner take all final game. The Spartans out hit Whitewater in the second game but saw the 2022 season come to an end with a 12-8 loss.
THE BASICS
Championship Game One Score: Aurora University 13, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 8
Championship Game Two Score: University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 12, Aurora University 8
Record: Aurora University 36-11 overall ; University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 36-9 overall
Location: Whitewater, Wisconsin
Post Game Interview: Watch Now
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater
- Corey Vondra set the tone early when he crushed a 2-1 pitch well over the left field fence and into a stiff wind for a 1-0 AU lead.
- Whitewater tied the contest in the bottom of the first.
- The game remained 1-1 into the fourth when Jett Wedekind singled to lead off the frame and he scored on a double off the top of the center field fence by Jacob Ambuel.
- In the bottom of the fourth, AU starter Skyler Yamamoto hit the lead off man who was gunned down by Wedekind trying to steal. The next batter walked and he was then gunned down by Wedekind at second for the second out. Another free pass would not try and steal but scored on a double and the game was tied 2-2.
- The defensive jolt from Wedekind fueled the offense in the fifth as the Spartans exploded for seven runs. With one out, Vondra singled and scored on a Nico Bermeo double. Justin Sartori singled to drive in Bermeo and after Wedekind singled, Dylan White unloaded on a ball to right center for a three-run blast and AU led 7-2.
- Following a pitching change, the AU offense kept rolling. Sean Rivera singled to score Jacob Ambuel and Rivera ended up on third thanks to Whitewater chucking the ball around the field. Rivera scored on the seventh AU hit of the inning, a single from Jack Seefeldt and the Spartans led 9-2.
- A quick inning from Yamamoto put the offense back to work and they added three more runs. Colin Meinert cleared the bases with a double to right center field that scored Wedekind, White and Ambuel. The Spartans now led 12-2.
- Singles from Wedekind, Ambuel and Rivera in the eighth produced another run for a 13-2 AU lead.
- Yamamoto turned the game over the AU relievers in the ninth. Whitewater made the score closer than the contest actually was with six runs on seven hits in the frame.
- Wedekind gunned down a third Warhawk for the final out of the game, this one coming at third base and AU was victorious 13-8.
SPARTAN LEADERS
Game One vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater
HITTING
HITS: Jett Wedekind and Dylan White (3)
HOME RUN: Corey Vondra and Dylan White (1)
DOUBLE: Jacob Ambuel, Nico Bermeo and Colin Meinert (1)
RUNS: Jett Wedekind (4)
RUNS BATTED IN: Dylan White and Colin Meinert (3)
PITCHING:
APPEARANCES (innings): Skyler Yamamoto (8.0), Tanner Turnquist (0.2) and Seth Gutknecht (0.1)
DECISIONS: Skyler Yamamoto (win, 7-2)
STRIKEOUTS: Skyler Yamamoto (4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game Two vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater
- Whitewater got a pair of doubles in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
- In what AU fans hoped would be a sign for the game to come, Corey Vondra hit the first pitch he saw straight up to the Whitewater right fielder. The ball immediately went into the sun and fell for a double. Vondra stole third with one out and when the Whitewater catcher threw the ball into left field, Vondra scored to tie the game.
- Justin Sartori walked and after a Jett Wedekind infield single, Jacob Ambuel singled to scored Sartori and AU led 2-1.
- Whitewater took a 4-2 lead in the third with a three-run home run.
- Sartori led off the bottom of the third with a double and he scored on a single to center from Dylan White. Ambuel then singled but the inning ended on a 5-3 double-play that thwarted another big AU inning.
- In the fifth, Whitewater scored four runs on five hits to grab a 8-3 lead.
- As they had done all day, the Spartan bats had an answer. One out singles from White and Ambuel were followed by a two-out double from Sean Rivera that scored both White and Ambuel. Brendan Naylor followed with a single to left and it appeared Sean Rivera had scored on the play. But the home plate umpire called Rivera out on the play, a play that Rivera slid head-first and was tagged on the rear-end in a momentum swinging controversial call. After five innings, AU trailed 8-5.
- In the sixth, the Spartans threatened again. With two-outs, Sartori singled, Wedekind was hit by a pitch and White singled to load the bases. Jacob Ambuel crushed a one-hopper to the Whitewater shortstop who snared the ball and flipped to second to end the AU opportunity.
- Two walks to start the seventh for UWW came around to score and AU now trailed 10-5.
- Whitewater added two more on three hits in the eighth for a 12-5 lead on the Spartans.
- In the bottom of the inning, a lead-off single from Vondra was quickly snuffed out on the third ground into double-play in the game for the Spartans.
- Facing their final at bats, the Spartans made some more noise in the bottom of the ninth.
- Wedekind singled to left and White was hit by a pitch to start the inning. The pair scored when Jacob Ambuel plastered a single to right that went under the right fielder's glove, allowing both Wedekind and White to score and Ambuel ended up on third. Ambuel scored on a groundout in what would be the last run of the day for the Spartans.
- When the final out was made, the Spartans out-hit UWW 17-14 but came up just short on the scoreboard, 12-8.
SPARTAN LEADERS
Game Two vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater
HITTING
HITS: Jacob Ambuel (4), Corey Vondra and Dylan White (3)
DOUBLE: Justin Sartori, Corey Vondra and Sean Rivera (1)
RUNS: Justin Sartori, Jacob Ambuel and Dylan White (2)
RUNS BATTED IN: Jacob Ambuel and Sean Rivera (2)
PITCHING:
APPEARANCES (innings): Sam Harvey (3.0), Bryce Miller (1.1), Seth Gutknecht (0.2), Jacob Welbes (1.0), Tyler Preissing (1.2) and Carlos Garcia (1.1)
DECISIONS: Sam Harvey (loss, 1-2)
STRIKEOUTS: Jacob Welbes and Sam Harvey (2)
UP NEXT
The Aurora University Spartan baseball team finishes the 2022 season with a 36-11 overall record with a 21-3 record in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and NACC regular season champions.
Original source can be found here.
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