Baseball
Baseball: Smith's bat, Clear's arm lead Big Red past No. 3 Wooster
James Clear struck out five in 7.2 IP to defeat the Scots, 6-3.
Date: April 12, 2008
Location: GRANVILLE
Behind five RBIs from sophomore first baseman Park Smith (Warren, N.J./Pingry) and 7.2 solid innings from senior hurler James Clear (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin), the Big Red upset the third-ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots, 6-3.
Freshman center fielder Danny Pritz (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) drove the first pitch the Big Red saw into left center and junior second baseman Justin Held (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) followed with another to put the aggressive Big Red bats in scoring position early. One at-bat later a Smith shot to right center scored the top of the lineup to put the Big Red up 2-0 early.
After a pair of runs by the Scots in the top of the fourth, Smith answered ripping a shot past the outstretched glove of the Wooster first baseman to score Held and return the lead, 3-2.
In the seventh, Smith again stepped to the plate with Pritz on third and Held on second. Once again, he capitalized as his liner up the middle gave him RBI number four and five on the day, putting head coach Justin Dedman and the Big Red up 5-2.
Freshman designated hitter Mark Mazur (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton La Salle) kept the rally in the seventh alive as he drove in Smith with an RBI single to push the lead to four.
In the middle of the eighth, freshman pitcher Freddy Marino (Shaker Heights, Ohio/University School) relieved the starter Clear. With a four run lead, the senior's stat line included five strikeouts and just seven hits.
Sophomore closer Aidan Lucas (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Twp.) entered in the ninth and after giving up an RBI single to pinch hitter Matt Groezinger, induced the 1-6-3 double play to seal the victory.
The win moves the Big Red to 19-9 on the season. The two top teams in the NCAC, Wooster in the East and Denison in the West, will play again tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Wooster.