Chapman Stays Alive, Defeats Cortland State, 5-0

APPLETON, Wis. —  Andrew Tisdale wasn’t the obvious choice among Chapman’s candidates to start Sunday’s do-or-die game at the NCAA Division III baseball championships.

Tisdale was the only Chapman pitcher with a losing record this season at 2-4. His 4.76 earned-run average was third-worst on the team for pitchers with more than 10 innings. He was a freshman, and on top of that, he hadn’t pitched in more than two weeks.

But on Sunday, Tisdale turned out to be the perfect choice to keep the Panthers alive.

Tisdale did not allow a run in 6 2/3 innings, lifting Chapman to a 5-0 win over Cortland (N.Y.) State in at Fox Cities Stadium. The Panthers staved off elimination for the second straight day with a win, and now are one win away from advancing to Tuesday’s championship round.

“I can’t say enough about the effort that Andrew gave us on the mound,” Chapman Coach Rex Peters said. “We knew he was certainly capable of doing that, and we needed that effort on the mound to give us a chance to win.”

The Panthers didn’t score in the first six innings, but Tisdale matched scoreless innings with Cortland State starter Jason Ross. Tisdale was in command from the outset, allowing only two men to reach second base through the first six innings.

Tisdale showed no sign of nervousness from the beginning, even though it was his first career postseason start and he hadn’t won a game since April 20. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, and retired nine of the first 11 he faced.

“You’re always nervous the first time you go out there,” Tisdale said. “But you just pitch your game and stay with what you got.”

Chapman finally gave Tisdale some run support in the seventh inning. With two outs and the score still 0-0, Alex Taylor walked and took second on a wild pitch. Tony Serna came through with a single to right field, and Taylor barely beat the throw home with a slide. Serna advanced to second on the throw.

Serna took third on a balk, and Bobby Calderon drove him in with a single to right. Brandon Maciel followed with an infield single, and Adam Olow put the Panthers up, 3-0, with an RBI single to right-center.

Tisdale got into a jam in the bottom of the seventh. He walked the leadoff hitter and gave up a one-out single to left field. He got Cory Haggerty to ground out to second before giving way to closer Eric Albright. Albright got Greg Scerba to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.

Chapman added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth and Albright got the save with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. It was Albright’s 13th save, adding to his single-season school record.

“When you have [Albright] on the mound, he’s shutting the door every time ,” Calderon said. “We knew once we got some runs on the board we were sitting really well.”

Chapman faces Saint Thomas of St. Paul, Minn., today. Peters said he did not know if staff ace Tim Huff would start because he threw about 140 pitches in his start Friday.

With or without Huff, the Panthers are in a good position considering they dropped their opener to Allegheny College on Friday and had to advance through the losers’ bracket.

“Obviously you want to win right off the bat, but we got a loss under our belts,” Maciel said. “Now we’re right back in this.”