NCAA Regional Game 1 Preview: (6) Case Western Reserve vs. (3) Adrian

Posted on May 18, 2011. Filed under: Game Previews, Live Blogs, NCAA, Scouting Reports | Tags: Adrian College, Brian Billus, David Partyka, Jake Cappelletty, Jamie Hora, Peter Zak, Playoffs, Ryan Domschot, Seven of Nine, Yo Adrian |

So, Case Western Reserve made their first-ever NCAA playoffs. It’s a watershed moment for the program, and huge strides since just four years ago, when beating Myers University three out of four was an accomplishment (and I was doing scorekeeping on a laptop in foul territory, with a chalk square around me being a dead ball area). The schools in the regional are as follows:

Marietta (38-3)
Heidelberg (33-11)
Adrian (31-9)
Franklin (29-12)
Frostburg St. (28-13)
Case Western Reserve (30-13)
Penn State-Altoona (28-11)

The regional is double-elimination format, with Marietta getting a bye in the first round. On Wednesday, Case will face Adrian at 1:00 pm, and will face one of Heidelberg and Penn State-Altoona on Thursday.

Scouting Report: Adrian College Bulldogs

The Bulldog’ strength is definitely their pitching staff. Their ERA of 2.47 is third in all of division 3. Their offense is very good, but a relative lack of power keeps them from being one of the top offenses in the nation.

Offense: Adrian’s top offensive player is easily senior 3B Brian Billus (.420/.516/.611), with an elite mix of contact and power. Senior 1B Jake Cappelletty (.398/.455/.537) has shown more home run power in the past, and should not be taken lightly. Junior SS Michael Herzog (.411/.424/.518) has had a breakout season after coming off the bench his first two years. Junior CF Nate Sarkissian (.331/.438/.488) has a bit of power as well.

Pitching: Seniors righty David Partyka (8-1, 2.10 ERA) and lefty Ryan Domschot (6-2, 2.38) have been the Bulldogs’ aces, but seven out of the nine pitchers with at least ten innings have an ERA below 3.00. Wait, did I just say seven of nine? (Hey, if Pittsburgh radio personality Rocco DeMaro can do it, so can I!)

So, what do the Spartans need to do in order to shout “Yo, Adrian, we did it!“? First, they need to win the matchup of their strong offense (8.7 rpg) vs. Adrian’s strong pitching. Second, their starting pitcher, whoever it may be (my guess is LHP Jamie Hora), must have a good start. Third, the defense must be strong. They can’t give Adrian more than 27 outs.

The game is at 1:00 PM (edit: 3:00 PM, pushed back by rain), and live stats are here. I will give my thoughts and opinions on Twitter, which, if you’re on Twitter and aren’t following, what are you doing? I’ll have a preview of the Spartans’ next game (hopefully a winners’ bracket matchup) tonight.

Update: Peter Zak wins the game with a pinch hit grand slam in the ninth inning! I’m all about search engine optimization, so… Peter Zak, Peter Zak, Peter Zak. There, that should do it! Unfortunately, I’ve also summoned Beetlejuice.

Case will face the winner of Heidelberg and Penn State-Altoona at 1 PM tomorrow. I’ll have a preview post tonight/early tomorrow morning.