DELAND, Fla. – Will Romanowicz clinched the 2006 Atlantic Sun Championship title with a complete game, seven hitter as Stetson defeated ETSU 6-2 at Melching Field on Saturday afternoon. The sophomore right-hander made just his third start of the season and went the distance, needing just 95 pitches to deliver Stetson’s league record sixth conference title.
Stetson scratched out a run in the second inning to open the scoring as Adam Tindle scampered home following a Tony Lombardi wild pitch. The Hatters threatened to break it open in the top of the third, loading the bases with just one out, but Lombardi escaped allowing only one run on a Brian Bocock sacrifice fly. Stetson went on to score runs in four straight frames versus a pair of ETSU relievers to take control of the championship game. The Bucs put their first run on the board on Justin Aughey’s RBI ground out in the bottom of the fifth, but could draw no closer than four runs for the remainder of the contest.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Brandon Paritz went 2-for-4 in the title game and hit .467 for the championship, scoring five runs. Brian Bocock, Kevin Mierzwinski, Adam Tindle and Brad Pippa each delivered a pair of hits for the Hatters who took advantage of two Bucs’ errors in the game. All-Tournament choice Anthony Russell went 3-for-3 to pace ETSU’s efforts. Romanowicz (2-3) won his second straight start while Lombardi (2-8) took the loss after surrendering three runs in 3.2 innings of work.
The Hatters ran their tournament win streak to seven games and became the first team to defend its title since 2001. The No. 3 seed has won two of the last three A-Sun Championships.
ETSU saw their high-powered offense silenced in the championship game as they were limited to just seven hits after entering the game batting .351 in their three previous tournament games. On the flip side, Stetson’s pitching continued its late season resurgence, posting a 2.84 ERA in four contests.
Stetson will advance to NCAA Regional play for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The full 64-team bracket announcement will be telecast live on ESPN, Monday, May 29 at 12:30 pm (ET).
