Northwestern captures regional title
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, May 13, 2007
Northwestern College followed a simple recipe for success all the way to the NAIA Region III baseball championship.
It helps, however, to have a pitcher like Mihai Burlea in the middle of the diamond.
The Red Raiders, seeded sixth in the six-team double elimination tournament, relied on strong pitching, timely hitting and air-tight defense during their unlikely run, capped by a 5-2 victory over top-seeded Dickinson State in the championship game Saturday at Lewis and Clark Park.
Burlea, a 6-foot-7 junior righthander from Botosani, Romania, went to the mound on only two days rest and showed little sign of fatigue, working a complete game. The Red Raider ace, who was the winning pitcher in a 6-4 triumph over Dickinson State on Wednesday, spaced seven hits while improving his record to 12-0.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference pitcher of the year struck out seven and walked two, pitching Northwestern into a best-of-three super regional at Bellevue University beginning on Thursday.
"I had to ice my arm three times a day and I got a hard time from my teammates because of it," said Burlea. "I took a lot of ibuprofen, did a lot of running and came back. I always feel stronger at the end of the game."
"Mihai was a stud today, no doubt about it," said Northwestern Coach Brian Wede. "He was throwing strikes and he was throwing hard.
"We knew coming in with our offense and pitching, we'd have a chance as long as we fielded the ball. We played great defense this week and our hitting and pitching continued, so here we are."
The victory improved Northwestern's record to 37-16, adding to a single-season school wins record. After beating Dickinson State in the opener, the Red Raiders lost to Briar Cliff 4-1, but rebounded with wins over Dakota State (5-0) and Dickinson again.
Dickinson State, the Dakota Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion, finished with a 34-11 record. The Blue Hawks beat Jamestown 2-0 in the first game Saturday to reach the championship.
"We knew if they won last night that was probably who we would face," said Dickinson State Coach Duane Monlux. "Obviously, he had our number in two games and he's not 12-0 on the year for nothing.
"We had a couple of chances early, but we hit into double plays in the first and second innings. They jumped on us early and it's tough to come back, especially against a good pitcher.
"It's a tough one to lose, but Northwestern played a good tournament and you have to tip your hat to them. They have some very nice players, but Dickinson State does, too."
Dickinson State's Ed Warren led off the game with a single to left , but was later doubled off second on a line drive to the second baseman. The Blue Hawks also grounded into a double play in the second inning after their leadoff batter reached.
Northwestern leadoff hitter Austin Malone, who finished 3-for-5 with two singles, a double and three runs scored, singled up the middle in the bottom of the first. Malone advanced to third on a double play and scored when Michael Janssen came up with a key two-out single to right.
Jake Jansen gave the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead with an opposite-field homer, his sixth of the season, over the wall in left in the third. Jansen's long ball came off Evan Seegmiller, who started after pitching the final 1.1 innings for a save in the early game.
Dan Morari replaced Seegmiller with runners on first and second with two outs in the third and gave up an infield single to Curtis Bomgaars, but retired Justin Lane on a fly out.
Grant Wall, the GPAC player of the year who has been nursing a sore hamstring, saw his first action of the tournament and singled to start the Northwestern fourth. Wall scored on an RBI double by Malone, whose drive hit the top of the left field wall, and Malone came home on Jansen's second RBI single of the contest.
The Red Raiders added an unearned run in the sixth when Malone led off with a single, went to second on wild pitch and scored on an error by the first baseman.
Back-to-back bloop singles produced Dickinson State's first run in the fifth. The Blue Hawks scored again in the eighth and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth before Burlea coaxed Adam Ladoucer to ground into a game-ending force out.
Each team had a player ejected, but Northwestern probably caught a bigger break when Dickinson's Dan Boudreau was tossed for arguing a called third strike in the fourth inning. Boudreau was 10-for-17 at the plate in the tournament.
Northwestern's Matt Gray got the heave-ho, also in the fourth, for elbowing the Dickinson catcher while trying to score.
Dickinson State 000 010 010 -- 2 7 3
Northwestern 101 201 00x -- 5 11 2
Evan Seegmiller, David Morari (3) and Paulo Contreras; Mihai Burlea and Codie Zeutenhorst. WP -- Burlea (12-0). LP -- Seegmiller (4-2).
It helps, however, to have a pitcher like Mihai Burlea in the middle of the diamond.
The Red Raiders, seeded sixth in the six-team double elimination tournament, relied on strong pitching, timely hitting and air-tight defense during their unlikely run, capped by a 5-2 victory over top-seeded Dickinson State in the championship game Saturday at Lewis and Clark Park.
Burlea, a 6-foot-7 junior righthander from Botosani, Romania, went to the mound on only two days rest and showed little sign of fatigue, working a complete game. The Red Raider ace, who was the winning pitcher in a 6-4 triumph over Dickinson State on Wednesday, spaced seven hits while improving his record to 12-0.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference pitcher of the year struck out seven and walked two, pitching Northwestern into a best-of-three super regional at Bellevue University beginning on Thursday.
"I had to ice my arm three times a day and I got a hard time from my teammates because of it," said Burlea. "I took a lot of ibuprofen, did a lot of running and came back. I always feel stronger at the end of the game."
"Mihai was a stud today, no doubt about it," said Northwestern Coach Brian Wede. "He was throwing strikes and he was throwing hard.
"We knew coming in with our offense and pitching, we'd have a chance as long as we fielded the ball. We played great defense this week and our hitting and pitching continued, so here we are."
The victory improved Northwestern's record to 37-16, adding to a single-season school wins record. After beating Dickinson State in the opener, the Red Raiders lost to Briar Cliff 4-1, but rebounded with wins over Dakota State (5-0) and Dickinson again.
Dickinson State, the Dakota Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion, finished with a 34-11 record. The Blue Hawks beat Jamestown 2-0 in the first game Saturday to reach the championship.
"We knew if they won last night that was probably who we would face," said Dickinson State Coach Duane Monlux. "Obviously, he had our number in two games and he's not 12-0 on the year for nothing.
"We had a couple of chances early, but we hit into double plays in the first and second innings. They jumped on us early and it's tough to come back, especially against a good pitcher.
"It's a tough one to lose, but Northwestern played a good tournament and you have to tip your hat to them. They have some very nice players, but Dickinson State does, too."
Dickinson State's Ed Warren led off the game with a single to left , but was later doubled off second on a line drive to the second baseman. The Blue Hawks also grounded into a double play in the second inning after their leadoff batter reached.
Northwestern leadoff hitter Austin Malone, who finished 3-for-5 with two singles, a double and three runs scored, singled up the middle in the bottom of the first. Malone advanced to third on a double play and scored when Michael Janssen came up with a key two-out single to right.
Jake Jansen gave the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead with an opposite-field homer, his sixth of the season, over the wall in left in the third. Jansen's long ball came off Evan Seegmiller, who started after pitching the final 1.1 innings for a save in the early game.
Dan Morari replaced Seegmiller with runners on first and second with two outs in the third and gave up an infield single to Curtis Bomgaars, but retired Justin Lane on a fly out.
Grant Wall, the GPAC player of the year who has been nursing a sore hamstring, saw his first action of the tournament and singled to start the Northwestern fourth. Wall scored on an RBI double by Malone, whose drive hit the top of the left field wall, and Malone came home on Jansen's second RBI single of the contest.
The Red Raiders added an unearned run in the sixth when Malone led off with a single, went to second on wild pitch and scored on an error by the first baseman.
Back-to-back bloop singles produced Dickinson State's first run in the fifth. The Blue Hawks scored again in the eighth and had the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth before Burlea coaxed Adam Ladoucer to ground into a game-ending force out.
Each team had a player ejected, but Northwestern probably caught a bigger break when Dickinson's Dan Boudreau was tossed for arguing a called third strike in the fourth inning. Boudreau was 10-for-17 at the plate in the tournament.
Northwestern's Matt Gray got the heave-ho, also in the fourth, for elbowing the Dickinson catcher while trying to score.
Dickinson State 000 010 010 -- 2 7 3
Northwestern 101 201 00x -- 5 11 2
Evan Seegmiller, David Morari (3) and Paulo Contreras; Mihai Burlea and Codie Zeutenhorst. WP -- Burlea (12-0). LP -- Seegmiller (4-2).
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 2 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
gLauR wrote on May 13, 2007 5:13 AM:
Laurentiu G wrote on May 13, 2007 5:11 AM: