CARY, NC – No. 1-ranked North Greenville put up single tallies in the second, fifth and sixth, topping No. 13 West Chester, 3-1, in the opening game of the NCAA Division II National Championships at Coleman Field Sunday evening.
The Golden Rams (34-14), who went unbeaten in its last two trips to the national finals while winning national titles in 2012 and 2017, saw its personal eight-game winning streak at the championships snapped by the top-ranked Crusaders (51-10).
"I thought we played really well tonight," West Chester second-year head coach
Mike LaRosa said. "We just didn't win. Credit goes to (North Greenville). I thought they just had a few more timely hits than we did. That's baseball."
West Chester got on the board in the top of sixth when
Justin Horn led off with a single up the middle and moved to second on a passed ball.
Mike Ferrara then hit a dribbler back to the mound that North Greenville pitcher Reece Fields couldn't handle. The ball got away from him along the first base line, and Horn raced around third and headed home to make it a 2-1 game.
"Offensively, we didn't do much," North Greenville head coach Landon Powell said. "But, we got a great outing from Reece (Fields)."
Fields, North Greenville's starting pitcher, threw seven strong innings, allowing one unearned run on five hits. He walked one and struck out six. Brent Herlong came on and picked up his second save of the season going the rest of the way for the Crusaders.
West Chester left-handed starter
Braeden Fausnaught lasted six innings allowing three runs on six hits. He walked five and struck out four. Reliever
Dylan Howanitz came on and pitched the final two innings.
Ferrara finished the day 1-for-3 with a double down the left-field line just inside the third-base bag.
West Chester will take on Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in an elimination game.
NOTES: West Chester lost its first game at the national championships since 2009 when an 8-6 defeat to UC San Diego ended its season … West Chester is now 9-5 all-time in the final round of the NCAA Division II National Championships …
Braeden Fausnaught was the first left-hander since Frank Gailey in 2006 to make a start on the mound in the national finals ... Fausnaught made his 18th start of the season (a new school record) and improved his school record for strikeouts in a single season to 125 ... Ferrara's double was his 23rd of the season and moved him into a tie for second place on the school's single-season chart with Mark Gilliford (2007) ... Matt Cotellese holds the single-season mark of 25 in 2009.
