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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Every time Chapman University pitcher Devin Drag takes the mound, he has to throw a shutout in order to lower his Division III-leading earned run average. Drag did just that in a six-hit, 3-0 shutout over Wheaton College (Mass.) in a winner’s bracket game at the NCAA Division III championships at Fox Cities Stadium on Saturday night. More importantly, he pitched Chapman (33-11) to a 2-0 record in the World Series heading into Sunday night’s battle of unbeatens and one win away from the championship game. The junior All-America right-hander struck out a career-high 12, including six looking and two in the ninth inning. Wheaton (39-9) got a pair of runners on base in the ninth and had the tying run at the plate, but Drag got the final batter looking. The Lyons left 10 runners on base, but never got a runner past second. “Devin was really dominating,” said Chapman head coach Tom Tereschuk. “It was just a great performance by him.” It was Drag’s second shutout of the season and sixth complete game, improving him to 10-1 this season, including 3-0 in the postseason. His nation-best ERA is now 0.72. “We knew coming in how good he was,” said Wheaton head coach Eric Podbelski. “I looked at his numbers on the stat sheet, and I thought it was a misprint. Obviously, it wasn’t.” Chapman got all the offense it needed thanks to a couple miscues by the Lyons defense and a clutch two-run double by freshman Patrick Ohail in the top of the first inning. The Panthers capitalized on a pair of errors and a hit batter to score three runs in the inning. Senior John Alexander had a sacrifice fly that preceded Ohail’s double. “For us to be fortunate to get some runs early and have Devin out there, it leaves everyone feeling confident,” said Tereschuk. That was all the clutch hitting Chapman would get as the Panthers pounded out 10 hits – four for extra bases – but stranded 14 runners in the game. Ohail finished 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and freshman Kurt Yacko had a pair of hits for the second straight game. As often as Chapman has been to the World Series since 1997, the Panthers had never previously won their first two games in the tournament. Chapman advances to Sunday night’s 7 p.m. game against either Montclair State (N.J.) or Marietta (Ohio). One of those teams will also be 2-0 and the winner of Sunday night’s game earns an automatic berth into the championship game on Tuesday. The Panthers beat Montclair State earlier this season, 7-1 in Orange, Calif. The game was a battle of the two highest ranked teams in the tournament. Wheaton, ranked No. 6 by the ABCA, was the only regional No. 1 seed to advance to the World Series. Chapman entered the tournament ranked No. 11, falling out of the top-10 on May 15 for the first time this season.
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