May 20, 2007

Box Score

Akron, Ohio - Southern Indiana, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 1994 campaign, advanced to its first-ever NCAA Division II World Series with its 1-0 victory over Grand Valley State in the 2007 North Central Regional title game. Southern Indiana will face the winner of the South Atlantic Regional winner on Saturday, May 27 in Montgomery, Alabama.

Southern Indiana's Bryan Rudden was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the fourth and was sacrificed to second by Matt Pleiss. 2b Darin Mastroianni then tripled to right center to score Rudden. Mstroianni later came home on a sac fly, but was ruled that he left base early and was called out.

Grand Valley State threatened in the fifth when Dan Skirka singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. However, center fielder Michael Beaven made a diving catch to rob Derek Hinke of an extra base hit.

The Lakers loaded the bases in the ninth with one out, but Cory Julian came in and shut the door for the USI victory.

Southern Indiana pitcher Jeremy Kehrt tossed a gem of a game, yielding no runs on five hits while running his record to 6-0 on the year. Nick Beach took the loss, yielding one run on five hits in seven innings of action.

Mastroianni, Hunter Slade and Alex Thieroff each collected a pair of hits for USI, while Cory Maguire went 2-4 for the Lakers.

2007 NCAA Division II North Central Region All-Tournament Team
Pos  Player                 Team
C   Nick Smith              Grand Valley State
1B  Tony Lewis              Drury
2B  Darin Mastroianni       Southern Indiana*
3B  Lee VanStreain          Grand Valley State
SS  Joe Rohlfing            Drury
OF  Pat Radde               Grand Valley State
OF  Derek Hinke             Grand Valley State
OF  Hunter Slade            Southern Indiana
DH  Chad Werry              Southern Indiana
P   Jeremy Kehrt            Southern Indiana
P   Cory Julian             Southern Indiana
* - North Central Regional Most Valuable Player