SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, JUNE 1
11 a.m. - Linfield (37-12) vs, SUNY Cortland (39-9-1)
2:30 p.m. – Illinois Wesleyan (30-21) vs. winner of first game

NCAA Division III Baseball Championships Web Site

SUNY Cortland 11, Illinois Wesleyan 10 - Box Score

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Illinois Wesleyan will face either Linfield or SUNY Cortland at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, for the NCAA Division III baseball championship in Grand Chute, Wis. The Titans' 10-game winning streak came to an end with an 11-10 loss Monday.

Earlier in the day Linfield (37-12) eliminated Heidelberg, 6-4, and the Wildcats and Red Dragons (39-9-1) will meet at 11 a.m. Tuesday with the winner playing IWU for the national title.
If the Titans, with a 30-21 record, would win the title it would be the team with the most losses to capture the crown. In 1976 (the first D-III championships), Cal St.-Stanislaus was the champion with a 33-20-2 record.
In 20 of the 34 previous championship seasons, title teams have had fewer than 10 losses.

The Titans battled back to tie the game at 10-10 in the ninth as senior Brett Moore led off the ninth with his third hit of the day and went to second when Mark McDermott bunted him to second. Senior first baseman Casey McIntosh flied out to centerfield and Moore went to third. Sophomore rightfielder Kevin Sullivan then delivered a double to leftcenter to tie the score.

The Titans, who left 13 men on base in their first loss since May 15, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Moore tripled to right center and came in on a single by McDermott. McIntosh walked and both runners advanced when Sullivan laid down a sacrifice bunt. Centerfielder Ryan Hopp was hit by a pitch to load the bases before third baseman Jeff Grodecki's single drove home McDermott and kept the bases loaded. Freshman shortstop Zach Scott provided a sacrifice fly to left that chased in McIntosh for the third run.

After Cortland tied the game at 3-3, senior leftfielder Kraig Ladd put the Titans back ahead 4-3 with an opposite field home run to lead off the second.

The Red Dragons scored in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 4-4 and put three runs on the board in the fourth to claim a 7-4 edge.

The Titans scored three runs in the sixth to tie the score at 7-7. IWU loaded the bases with none out in the sixth as Ladd reached on a bad hop single to right, Moore was hit by a pitch and McDermott hit a seed off the third baseman's glove. McIntosh got Ladd home with a sacrifice fly to left. Sullivan was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Hopp walked to bring in Moore. Grodecki singled to score McDermott before Scott struck out and Schiller lined out to third.

IWU loaded the bases with no one out in the fourth but failed to score. Moore singled to right, McDermott reached on an infield single and McIntosh hit safely to left. But Sullivan struck out and Hopp hit into a 1-6-3 double play.

The Titans closed to 10-9 with two tallies in the top of the eighth. With one out, Sullivan reached on a hit followed by walks to Hopp and Grodecki. Scott's groundout got Sullivan home and senior Mike Morrissey pinch hit and beat out a high chopper to third that drove in Hopp.

Senior starting pitcher Alex Tosi lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks. Freshman lefthander Nick Mehn went three innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits with two walks and struck out three. Sophomore lefthander Pat Hayn (0-1) took the loss, pitching two innings and allowing two hits and one run while walking one.

NOTES: Senior Casey McIntosh had two hits and now has 77 this season, becoming the school's single season hit leader by passing Ricky Angel (75 in 2007)…The Titans will start junior Jason Pankau on Tuesday in the championship game. The third team Rawlings/ABCA All-American pitched a complete game Friday in the 7-5 NCAA opening win over Shenandoah. Pankau has 10 wins, second most in an IWU season and only one from tying the record holder Nathan Knuffman (11-1 in 1998)...

SCHOOL SUCCESSES: The Titan baseball team is aiming to be the school's fifth national NCAA Division III team champion, joining the women's outdoor track teams of 2010 and 2008, the women's indoor track team of 2008 and the men's basketball team of 1997...Including baseball, 10 Illinois Wesleyan teams have been involved in NCAA postseason competition in 2009-10: football and women's soccer advanced to the second round; men's basketball went to the final eight and women's basketball to the final 16; softball won three games in the regional; men's golf tied for 15th and women's golf placed 13th in their national tournaments; women's indoor track tied for fourth and the women's outdoor track team won the Division III championship last weekend. In addition, IWU has sent individuals to the NCAA championships in women's cross country, women's swimming and men's swimming.