SUNY Niagara just won’t quit.
With its back against the wall and facing elimination, the top-seeded Thunderwolves kept clawing back. Three times they faced deficits against No. 6 Surry (North Carolina) in the NJCAA Division III World Series Monday and they fought back each time.
Finally, facing a 14-11 hole going into the top of the ninth inning, SUNY Niagara scored five runs and kept its national championship dreams alive with a 16-11 win at Falcon Park in Auburn. The Thunderwolves will play in another elimination game at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and a win puts them in another game at 7 p.m. for a national championship game berth.
SUNY Niagara fell into a 5-1 hole after the second inning, only to tie the game with four runs in the top of the third. And Surry quickly erased all the Thunderwolves’ work by scoring five more runs in the bottom of the third.
The first two pitchers, Eric Woodley and Sean Duffy allowed a combined 10 earned runs on nine hits and six walks in 2 ⅔ innings. The duo combined for a 2.13 ERA in over 76 innings during the season.
SUNY Niagara started its rally the next inning, started by Michael Cole getting hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth. Walks to Christopher Finocchario and Gavyn Boyle loaded the bases for Cooper Rossano, who delivered a grand slam to left field to pull within one.
Finocchario tied the game with a two-out solo shot to left in the fifth and Braeden Dyck gave the Thunderwolves the lead in the sixth with a two-out solo poke to left centerfield in the sixth.
A lead-off single by Surry’s Emory Taylor in the seventh and a pair of walks loaded the bases. Elijah Palmer singled to center to plate a run, followed by Tate Green’s sacrifice fly and Jaden Johnson’s single put them back up 13-11.
Cole once again started the final rally with a lead-off single in the ninth. Eventually Rossano came to the plate again with two men and delivered an RBI single.
Boyle scored on a passed ball and Mike Schaefer tied the game on a sacrifice fly. Braden Hill delivered the go-ahead runs on a two-run single to right field two batters later.
Surry appeared to have another response, with runners on first and second with one out. But Nolan Terwilliger forced a flyout to right field and then got a foul-out to first base to seal the win.
Terwilliger allowed two hits in 1 ⅓ innings to get the win, just his second of the year. Keegan Bazinet offered five innings of stabilizing work out of the bullpen, giving up three earned runs on seven hits.
Rossano went 3 for 6 with five RBIs, while Schaefer went 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Hill and Cole both had a pair of hits.
Surry’s 18 hits were the most allowed by SUNY Niagara this season.
The Thunderwolves are now 51-1 on the season after opening the World Series with a 4-1 loss to No. 8 Century (Minnesota), which eventually advanced to the winner’s bracket final. They rebounded Sunday with a 9-0 win over No. 5 Northern Essex (Massachusetts).