May 13, 2015 5 min read

Frostburg State showed why it is ranked No. 2 in the country and was given the top seed in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional when it defeated host Washington and Jefferson 7-1 in the opening game Wednesday at Ross Memorial Park.

The Bobcats (38-6) earned their second win in as many weeks over the Presidents (28-16) behind the right arm of senior pitcher Greg Schneider.

“It is huge,” Bobcats coach Guy Robertson said. “You can’t go in the losers’ bracket in a tournament like this. This helps the guys feel more comfortable for the rest of the tournament.”

Schneider tossed a complete game, striking out 10 and allowing one run in the eighth inning, ending his scoreless streak at 16? innings this year against the Presidents.

“My arm was feeling a little tired,” Schneider said. “It has been a long season but I was ready for this. My stuff was working today.”

Schneider, a Pitt transfer and Thomas Jefferson graduate, was able to perform in front of family and friends.

“It is nice for me,” Schneider said. “I can have family and friends come and watch. It is great to know they are there and are supporting me.”

The Bobcats got to Presidents ace Riley Groves in the first inning, getting the first of their five two-out RBIs. After a hit by pitch and single put runners on the corners before senior first baseman Ricky Brady dumped a two-out, two-run double into right field to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.

“It is always good to score first,” Brady said. “We have a really good record when we score first. In that at-bat I went 0-2. I was a little anxious at first. It was a good pitcher on the mound and I was just trying to stay back on it and dump it into right field.”

Groves, who was named earlier this week the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year, left after only four innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.

“Coach (Jeff) Mountain always preaches to stay around the plate,” Groves said. “We are taught to stay around the zone and attack the hitters. They are a good hitting team and put some defensive swings on the ball and found the holes. Some of them weren’t hard hit, but I guess that is the way the chips fall in baseball. Some days they are hit right to the defender and the others it gets over their heads.”

After falling behind 7-0, the Presidents got something going against Schneider, but it was short-lived.

Senior Kyle Smith delivered his second hit of the game, an RBI single to right field. On the play, Nick Morton tried to score the second run after the ball was bobbled in right field but was thrown out at home plate.

“He (Schneider) had all of his pitches working around the zone,” Smith said. “He did the same thing last time against us. We felt confident against him coming into the game. He got in a groove early and was able to work the counts and keep us off balance. We just weren’t able to get anything going against him.”

Offensively, the Bobcats were led by Brady and Zach Keeler. Brady finished 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run. Keeler was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

The Bobcats will play in the winner’s bracket today at 3:15 p.m.

The Presidents will have to fight through the loser’s bracket, a situation coach Jeff Mountain says his team is familiar with.

“It is a tough road once you lose the first game,” Mountain said. “It is not an easy thing. Things didn’t go our way, but I think if we get a key out early, we are in there at the end.

“We have been in this situation before. We have to come out and play our game. We don’t need to play perfectly; we just need to play a bit more crisply.”

The Presidents will be the early game today (noon) against Adrian.

Shenandoah 5, Adrian 1: Shenandoah remained perfect in first-round games with a 5-1 win over Adrian.

The Hornets (28-8-1) are 7-0 in the first round and advance to the 6:30 p.m. winner’s bracket game tonight.

Winning pitcher Darrell Thompson went seven innings and allowed one run on seven hits and struck out five.

The win was No. 350 at Shenandoah for Hornets coach Kevin Anderson.

Heidelberg 6, LaRoche 5: Joey Rydzewski’s two-out single up the middle scored Steven Morse from third base in the bottom fo the 10th inning to cap Heidelberg’s comeback and give the Student Princes’ a 6-5 victory over La Roche.

La Roche led 5-2 in the fifth inning but Heidelberg scored twice in the seventh and forced extra inning when Rydzewski singled and scored on a hit by Doug Miller.

Rydzewski was 4-for-5 hitting out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order.

Losing pitcher Tyler Ferguson threw 9 2/3 innings, throwing 153 pitches and striking out seven.