PITTSBURG – Pittsburg State University starter
Zach Voss limited No. 17 Augustana University to three hits in a dominant complete-game performance as the No. 3 Gorillas defeated the Vikings, 7-1, Friday (May 15) to advance to the NCAA Division II Central Regional Final.
Pitt State (45-9) will await the winner of a loser's bracket match-up between Augustana and Arkansas Tech University, which bounced MIAA rival Northwest Missouri State University from the four-team regional pod earlier Friday.
Augie and ATU will meet at 1 p.m. (CDT) Saturday at Al Ortolani Field with the winner facing the Gorillas 40 minutes afterwards at approximately 4 p.m.
Dagen Brewer led the Pitt State offense with a pair of doubles and a solo home run. He also delivered a sacrifice fly to raise his season RBI total to 103, one run driven in short of tying the all-time D2 single-season record.
Landon Bruce smacked a solo home run to stake the Gorillas to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Vikings got on the board in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a pair of hits that followed a lead-off error.
Grant Nottlemann delivered a two-run double in the fifth inning to put the Gorillas in front, 3-1, and Brewer tacked on a solo homer – his 25
th blast of the season – to make it a 4-1 game in the seventh inning.
Voss (12-2), who tied the Pitt State single season wins mark in the game, shut the door on Augie the rest of the way. He recorded 18 outs before allowing a two-out single to Troy Berg in the bottom of the ninth inning. Berg appeared to smack a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Pitt State outfielder
Eric Bacon leapt over the outfield wall and robbed him of a round-tripper.
The Gorillas offense touched Augie reliever Miles Hanson for three runs on a walk, a pair of hits – back-to-back triples by
Jadyn McNealy and Bacon – and Brewer's sac fly.
Voss tossed 105 pitches, issuing two walks and registering five strikeouts.
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