May 28, 2004
Box Score
Wilmington, N.C. -
There were no late-inning heroics, no big innings to give the Patriots the lead. Instead, there were 10 runners left on base and a fabulous outing by pitcher Josh Morrison put to waste. The top-seeded Patriots were finally ousted from the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament on Friday evening when second-seeded UNC Wilmington downed George Mason, 3-1. The Seahawks will play Delaware on Saturday, needing to sweep a doubleheader to deny the Blue Hens the CAA championship.
Matt Cooksey took a called third strike on a 3-2 pitch with Bruce Baldwin on first to end the game as Blake Cross pitched the final three innings for UNC Wilmington , allowing just one hit and striking out five. It was the 11th save of the year for the first-team All-CAA reliever who holds the conference record for career saves.
Jeff Moore pitched the first six innings after throwing 23 pitches in UNC Wilmington's 3-2 loss to Delaware earlier in the day. He scattered four hits and walked three batters and pitched out of trouble in the first, third and fifth. In the first, Cooksey walked and stole second and went to third on a ground out before Chris Looze fouled out to end the frame. In the third, Cooksey singled and stole second and Looze walked before Nick Shimer flew out to right. In the fifth, Jeff Palumbo reached on an error and Cooksey walked before Looze flew out. In the sixth, the Patriots finally got a run across when Shimer led off with a double and Robby Jacobsen reached on a two-out error, plating Shimer.
The best chance of the day came in the seventh, when Baldwin was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Palumbo reached on a bunt single. That brought in Cross and he struck out Cooksey, induced Looze into a ground out and got Shimer to strikeout to end the rally.
The Seahawks (36-21) got their runs early, scoring twice in the second and once in the fifth. Aaron Smith led off the second with his 10th homer of the year and John Raynor followed with a one-out single. He stole second and scored on a Matt Poulk single. Morrison got out of the inning when Brad Denson struck out swinging and was then called for batter interference as Poulk attempted to steal second. The Seahawks final run came across in the fifth when Poulk led off with his fifth double of the tournament, went to third on a Denson sacrifice bunt and scored on Chip Grawey's sacrifice fly.
Poulk's fouble tied Sean Casey's CAA Tournament record for doubles. Casey, a member of the Cincinnati Reds, set that mark while with the University of Richmond. The Seahawks threatened in the eighth when Grawey singled and went to first on a Morrison pitching error. Matt Sutton was intentionally walked with two outs and the runners each advanced on a double steal. But Morrison got Pat Murphy to strikeout swinging to end the threat.
The Patriots (39-17) will have to wait until Monday to find out if they will play in the NCAA Tournament. They have a strong chance at an at-large bid after dominating the CAA in the regular season and finishing 22 games better than .500. They also have an RPI of 50 heading into Friday's games. The selection show for the tournament teams will be aired live at Noon on ESPN2 on Monday. The Patriots will learn their fate as a team, watching the show together. The NCAA Regionals will be played June 4-6.
