The No. 2 Oswego State baseball team (35-10) eliminated top-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) (31-13) 2-0 behind a complete-game shutout from Brian Nolan and then sent Salem State University (25-20-1) home 7-3 to stay alive in the NCAA Championship New England Regional on Friday at Eastern Connecticut State University.
Nationally-ranked Oswego will face the country's No. 21-ranked and New England Regional third-seed Tufts University (34-7) at 12 p.m. on Saturday in another elimination contest, this time with a spot in the regional final on the line. The winner will advance to face No. 4 Keystone College – who is yet to lose a game in the regional – at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
GAME ONE – Oswego 2, Wheaton 0:
Nolan improved to 6-2 on the year, throwing all nine innings for Oswego against the Lyons. The freshman struck out nine Wheaton batters compared to just two free passes to first base. He scattered seven hits and threw 121 pitches. Several times the left-hander worked out of a jam, including back-to-back doubles with one out in the second and runners on the corners with two outs in the third.
Oswego got all it would need on offense in the seventh frame when it finally broke the scoreless tie. John Barnes reached on an error as the sophomore barreled down the first-base line, forcing a quick and high throw from the third baseman. After Matt Capobianco swapped at first with Barnes due to a fielder's choice, the senior advanced to second on a failed pickoff move that got past the first baseman. Robert Donnelly came to the dish next and crushed a ball to the left centerfield gap, scoring Capobianco on the RBI triple.Wes Randall singled to left two batters later on a full count with two outs, plating Donnelly for an insurance tally.
Donnelly and Randall each had two hits for the Lakers while Brian Hamilton, Myles Kutscher, Alex Brownand Capobianco had one base-knock apiece.
GAME TWO – Oswego 7, Salem St. 3:
Oswego got another gem out of its starting pitcher, this time from senior Miles Kelly. The righty surrendered just seven hits and three runs over 8.1 innings of work, fanning nine Vikings to match his teammate Nolan's total from earlier in the day. John-Michael Guarino came in for the final two outs and – after allowing a single – struck out the final two batters to secure Kelly's victory, his seventh of the year.
The Laker bats were awake in the night game, firing off 13 hits behind multiple hit outings from Kutscher (3), Randall (2) and Barnes (2). Eric Hamilton paced the Lakers with two RBI while Randall, Kutscher and Barnes each had one.
