Game 6 Box Score
LOVES PARK, Ill. – Aurora University may have needed a tiebreaker to get into the Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Tournament, but they proved that it doesn’t matter what seed you are as long as you get in. The fourth seeded Spartans swept through the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after defeating Edgewood College 13-3 to win the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
Edgewood College (29-15) jumped out early in the game as Tim Barry drove in Jimy Landwehr in the top of the first inning to give the Eagles the 1-0 advantage. In the second inning, the Eagles extended their lead to 2-0 when Scott Ortega stole second and induced a throw, allowing Ryan Walker to steal home.
In the third inning, the Spartans (27-14) evened the score. Anthony Amedei started the inning with a single, was sacrificed to second and moved to third on an error before scoring on a Kirk Williamson groundout. The next batter, Josh Davidson, singled through the left side to score another run and tie the game at two.
With two outs in the fourth inning, Amedei gave Aurora their first lead when he ripped a single through the left side that scored Joe Singraber who doubled earlier in the frame. The Spartans then pushed their lead to four runs after they scored three runs in the fifth inning.
The Eagles appeared to take some momentum back in the top of the sixth inning as they cut the lead to 6-3. Steve Binder singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a groundout before moving to third base on a wild pitch. Walker then drove him in with a groundout.
However, Aurora took all the momentum back when they tallied five unearned runs in the bottom half of the frame. Matt Anklam and Matt Mulvaney had big hits in the inning as the both recorded two-run singles. Singrabed sealed the victory with a bases loaded two-run single in the seventh inning as the Spartans took the contest 13-3 in seven innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Singraber paced the way for the Spartan offense as he was 3-for-3 with one run scored and two runs batted in. Tony Wellner and Amedei also recorded two hits in the game as Amedei went 2-for-5 with one run scored and one run batted in while Wellner was 2-for-4 with four runs scored. Stephen Sitterly went the distance on the mound and struck out three while only giving up three runs, two of which were earned.
For the Eagles it was Binder that led the way as he went 2-for-3 with one run scored. He also ended his career at Edgewood College on a 17-game hitting streak. Landwehr finished his record breaking season with school records of 80 hits and batting average of .460.
For the Spartans, this will be their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006 when they advanced all the way to the Division III World Series.
