HARWICH, Mass. – Corey Batista tossed a complete game shutout and Ian Williams had two hits, including a two-run homer, to power No. 8-seeded Bridgewater State to a 4-0 upset win over top seed Tufts in Game 2 of the 2011 NCAA Division III New England Regional Baseball Championship at Whitehouse Field on Wednesday.
The Bears (24-15) led 2-0 after the top of the first inning. Joshua Ferreira led off the frame with a single and moved to third when David Pierce followed with a base hit. After an out, Williams lined a single into center to score Ferreira. Following a Dave Billotte sacrifice bunt, Keane Costa was hit by a pitch to load the base and Matt Greenberg worked a walk to plate Pierce with the second run of the inning.
In the third, Tyler Dennis reached with a lead-off walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Williams then deposited a 2-2 offering over the left-center fence, to give Bridgewater the 4-0 advantage.
That was more than enough offense for Batista (7-2), who hurled his school-record ninth complete of the season. He walked one, struck out seven and scattered six hits to earn his fifth shutout, also a BSU single-season mark. Batista retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced and nine of the last 11.
Starter Derek Miller (3-2) gave up two runs in only an inning of work and suffered the loss for Tufts, which is ranked No. 15 nationally in the ABCA coaches' poll. Christian Sbily took over for Miller in the second and kept the Jumbos in the game by pitching 7-2/3 innings of relief. Silby, who gave up the two-run homer to Williams in the third, allowed just three hits but walked six batters while striking out four. He retired 15 of 18 batters at one point.
Eric Weikert led the Jumbos (26-8-1) with two hits.
Williams finished 2-for-5 at the plate with three runs batted in and a run scored for BSU. He leads the team with 42 RBI on the season. Pierce also had two hits for the Bears, who will face Rhode Island College in the winners' bracket semifinal on Thursday at 4:30 PM. RIC downed MIT, 12-2, in their opening round game.
Bridgewater is making the programs 13th NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since the 2004 season. BSU and RIC did not meet during the 2011 season due to a rainout. The Bears are 6-3 versus the Anchormen since 2002.