April 17, 2005
Towson, Md. - Junior righthander Casper Wells pitched a complete game six-hit shutout to lead Towson Unmiversity (17-16, 5-7) to a 1-0 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Old Dominion University (20-21, 4-8) in the final game of their three-game CAA weekend series at John B. Schuerholz Park on Sunday afternoon.
The win enabled Towson to snap a four-game losing streak and salvage the final game of their three-game series with ODU. Old Dominion won the series opener by 6-5 and the second game on Saturday, 16-9.
Wells, who upped his record to 3-0 on the season, allowed five singles and a double against a team that scored 16 runs on 15 hits in Saturday's win. Wells walked one batter and had five strikeouts.
For Wells, it was the first complete game shutout of his college career. It was also the first nine-inning complete game shutout for a Towson pitcher since Joe Fishel, '99 threw a four-hit shutout against UMBC on April 11, 1996. The Tigers won that game, 12-0.
Wells engaged in a pitcher's duel with senior righthander James Burok of Old Dominion through the first five innings. While Wells shut out the Monarchs on five hits, Burok allowed just one run on three hits. Burok was replaced by sophomore lefthander Needham Jones (Wilson H.S./Portsmouth, Va.) came on to pitch. Jones shut out the Tigers on three hits over the final three innings.
Senior first baseman Jason Maxey gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with two outs when he clubbed his 17th home run of the season, a blast down the rightfield line that was just a few feet fair.
Maxey's home run enabled him to tie the Towson University single season home run record. The record of 17 home runs was set by Erik Sheetz in 1991 and has now been matched five times. Jay Logwood hit 17 homers in 1992 and 1993 before Mike Costello tied the record with 17 homers in 2003.
The Tigers tried to give Wells some more offensive support but had trouble coming up with a clutch hit. The Tigers hit into two double plays and left ten runners on base.
Senior rightfielder Mark Chiccini and freshman leftfielder Demetrios Nomikos led the Tigers with two hits each.
Sophomore first baseman Brian Cipolla gave Old Dominion its best scoring opportunity in the fourth inning when he led off with a double to left center. With one out, junior rightfielder C.J. Jacinto reached on an infield single as Cipolla stayed at second base. However, Wells struck out sophomore Matt Hudgins and retired junior third baseman Eric Mesa on a grounder to third base.
With two outs in the eighth inning, senior leftfielder Evan Chipman hit a drive to deep leftfield, giving Wells some anxious moments. However, Nomikos caught the ball at the fence to end the inning.
Wells issued his only walk of the game to Cipolla, leading off the ninth inning. After a visit to the mound by Coach Mike Gottleib, Wells got sophomore catcher Tyler Belcher to ground out to second base where sophomore Hans Falkenhan started a rally-killing double play. Wells then put the finishing touches on the shutout when he struck out Jacinto on a called third strike to end the game.
The Monarchs did not get a base hit after Belcher singled with two outs in the sixth inning.
Cipolla, who batted .667 with eight RBI's in the series, led Old Dominion with two hits. Jacinto also had two singles for the Monarchs, who missed a chance to move past Towson into sixth place in the CAA standings.