Eric Knopsnyder
eknopsnyder@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN —
Mike Lobes felt a pain in his hamstring when he released his 110th pitch of the day on Sunday.
But the Southern Illinois-Carbondale pitcher was just one strike away from a complete-game victory in the National Club Baseball Association Division II World Series, so coming out of the game was never really an option.
“I just turned and tweaked it,” said Lobes, who needed just one more pitch for his complete-game, three-hitter as SIU-Carbondale beat Macon State 7-2 in an elimination game at Point Stadium. “It’ll be fine. I’m going to ice it tonight.”
He better be fine. The Salukis might need him today, as SIU-Carbondale plays unbeaten Penn State at 10 this morning. But to advance to Tuesday’s championship, Lobes’ team needs two victories over the Nittany Lions, so he might be called on again.
“They’re a tough hitting team, so we’re probably going to have to use three or four guys,” he said. “I’ve got to ice my arm up tonight and possibly throw a couple innings tomorrow. But we do have a really good staff.”
Lobes certainly looked the part on Sunday, as held Macon State without a hit through the first 42/3 innings.
Devon Crouse singled to left field to break up Lobes’ no-hit bid. Jacob Wood and Tyler Sailors followed with back-to-back singles, and an error by SIU made it 5-2, but Macon State couldn’t do anything more against Lobes.
“We just couldn’t ever get him timed up,” Macon State coach J.P. Mitchell said. “We couldn’t get everything around. He was a real good pitcher. ... He kept us off-balance most of the time. We couldn’t ever get the one or two big hits that we need to get him rocking and get him rattled.”
Lobes struck out six and walked three in the seven-inning game despite not having his best stuff.
“The first couple of innings, my control was a little bit off, so I had to rely on my fastball pretty much the whole entire game,” he said. “I rely on my changeup most of the time, but today it wasn’t working. I just went with the fastball today.”
Shayne Peterson and Richie Serritella each had three hits for SIU-Carbondale. Serritella and Josh Roderic each drove in two runs.
“Our hitting was phenomenal,” SIU-Carbondale coach Edwin Palacios said. “Everyone was doing their part, playing small ball. We got the job done today.”
Macon State didn’t, which was a disappointment to Mitchell.
“We had high expectations of winning the thing, but this is our first season,” he said. “It was a good chance for us to get up here, get a good learning experience and get back at it next year. Hopefully we’ll be up here and see y’all again next year.”
n Rice 6, William & Mary 4: Rice, which entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed, eliminated top-seeded William & Mary in the night game.
Knuckleballer Daniel Bianculli went five innings for the victory, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out two and walking two.
Brandon Davies pitched the final two innings for the save.
Chris Brown had three hits for Rice, including an RBI single in the Owls’ three-run first.
William & Mary starter Jakob Saunders walked six, including five in the first, before being lifted without retiring a batter in the second.
Arthur Nutter had two of the Tribe’s six hits.
n Northeastern 10, William & Mary 5: Northeastern pounded out 14 hits – including three apiece by Michael Librett and Max Sterenson – to improve to 2-0 in the tournament.
Northeastern scored eight runs in the second inning, which was highlighted by Michael Bivas’ two-run triple and Librett’s two-run double.
That was more than enough for Matthew Conroy, who scattered eight hits in the complete-game victory. He struck out eight and walked one.
Arthur Nutter was the only William & Mary player with two hits.
Nathan Hodor and John Carey each had a pair for Northeastern, which will face Rice at 1 this afternoon.
n Penn State 10, SIU-Carbondale 0: The Nittany Lions dominated SIU-Carbondale in the completion of a game postponed from Saturday.
Gerard Vath threw a two-hit shutout despite striking out just three hitters. He walked two.
Alexander Kline had three hits for Penn State while Ryan Melaugh drove in three runs and was one of five Nittany Lions to record two hits. Patrick Lucas, Alex Gojkovich, Frank DiRoma and Pete Ross were the others.
Shayne Peterson had both of SIU-Carbondale’s hits.
