INDIANAPOLIS – The Case Western Reserve University baseball team will make its third postseason appearance in four years with a Pool B bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament. The No. 21 nationally ranked Spartans (30-10) will be seeded second and play Thomas More College (Ky.) to open play at the NCAA Mideast Regional on Wednesday, May 14 at Don Schaly Stadium in Marietta, Ohio.
The regional berth is the third in program history as the team placed third in Marietta in 2011 and runner-up in Whitewater, Wisconsin last season. Unlike like 2013 in Wisconsin, the Spartans will be grouped with a pair of familiar opponents in Marietta College and John Carroll University.
"We are really excited to have the opportunity to keep playing," said Head Coach Matt Englander. "This is a special group of guys, and they have earned their shot. Not only do we get to continue pursuing our goals, but we get to stick together for another couple of weeks. I know our team is motivated, and we've had a couple of good weeks of practice in preparation."
Winners of the eight double-elimination regional tournaments around the nation advance to the World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin (May 23-27).
"Our goal is the same as everybody's at this point – go to the World Series and win it," stated Englander.
This season, the Spartans claimed a share of a second consecutive University Athletic Association Championship and became just the second team in program history to reach 30 wins (2011 – 33).
The pitching staff has been led by senior left-hander John Fortunato, who is 7-2 with a 2.04 ERA and 39 strikeouts in a team-high 75 innings pitched. The team's ace has two complete games this season as well as a save with his last two appearances coming in relief. The bullpen has been strong all season, and the Spartans are 22-0 in games where they led after six innings. Senior "southpaw" Ray Kelly (6-1), who has appeared in a team-high 16 games as a reliever, is second on the squad with a 2.63 ERA to go along with 31 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings.
Through games of May 6, the Spartan offense ranked sixth in the nation in slugging percentage (.488), 12th in in batting average (.342) and tied for 18th in home runs (26). The Spartans have scored at least 10 runs in a game 15 times and recorded double-digit hits 23 times.
Individually, junior third baseman Andrew Gronski (.456 BA/6 HR/41 RBI) ranks second in Division III in hits and ninth in batting average. His 77 hits this season are tied for second all-time in program history behind Chad Mullins' record of 83 (2011).
Senior shortstop Andrew Frey (.374 BA/15 2B/5 HR/54 RBI) is tied for seventh nationally in RBI and ranks tied for 24th in hits. Frey's 54 RBI this season rank as the third-highest total in program history behind the totals of Mullins (71 in 2011) and Sam Alexander (55 in 2011).
Junior second baseman Kerrigan Cain (.383 BA/HR/37 RBI/7 SB) is tied for 11th in the nation with 67 hits.
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Team
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Record
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Conference
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Bid
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1.
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Marietta College
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29-14
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Ohio Athletic
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Pool C
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2.
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Case Western Reserve
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30-10
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University Athletic Association
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Pool B
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3.
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Salisbury University (Md.)
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33-7
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Capital Athletic
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Pool A
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4.
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Widener University (Pa.)
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31-11
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Commonwealth Middle Atlantic
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Pool A
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5.
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La Roche College (Pa.)
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30-13
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Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
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Pool A
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6.
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John Carroll University
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24-15
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Ohio Athletic
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Pool A
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7.
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Thomas More College (Ky.)
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23-17
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Presidents' Athletic
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Pool A
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8.
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Penn State Berks
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19-19
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North Eastern Athletic
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Pool A
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Pool A – automatic qualifiers from conferences with seven or more full NCAA members
Pool B – awarded to independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification (Pool A).
Pool C – reserved for institutions from automatic-qualifier (Pool A) conferences that are not their conference's automatic qualifier and the remaining teams in Pool B.
