June 5, 2005
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Cinderella story of Army's baseball team at the Tallahassee Regional came to an end on Sunday as Auburn defeated the Black Knights 12-3 to advance to the championship round of the regional held this weekend at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University.
The Tigers scored two runs in the first inning and three runs in the second to race out to an early 5-0 lead and Army could never recover. The Black Knights' fueled Auburn's early onslaught, committing three fielding errors in the first two innings.
Auburn (34-25) added five runs in the fifth inning, one run in the sixth inning and one more in the seventh to build a 12-0 cushion before Army broke through with three runs in the eighth.
Jason Meloy opened the inning with a double down the left-field line and scored on a two-out double off the right-center field fence by Schuyler Williamson. Following walks to Walker Gorham and Nate Stone that loaded the bases, Jeremy Stache lined a two-run single to left field, accounting for the final margin.
Tyler Johnstone went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two runs batted in and Clete Thomas went 3-for-4 with one run scored and two runs batted in atop the Tigers' batting order to spark Auburn's offense. The Tigers' two leadoff hitters combined to go 7-for-9 with four runs scored and four runs batted in, pacing Auburn's 16-hit attack.
Seven different players registered base hits for Army, with Meloy and Williamson collecting the Black Knights' only two extra-base hits. Williamson flew out to the right field fence with runners on first and third to end the game.
After becoming the first starting pitcher in the Black Knights' history to win his first seven decisions, Cole White suffered his first loss of the season in the setback. White allowed 11 hits and nine runs (five earned) in 4.2 innings of work, closing out his freshman season at 7-1.
Fourth-seeded Army, which threw a major scare at top-seeded Florida State before falling 3-2 on Friday, then registered the first NCAA Regional win in school history by upsetting No. 3 seed South Alabama 8-5 Saturday, closed the most successful season in school history at 39-14. For the second straight season, the Black Knights established new school and Patriot League records for wins.
"First, we'd like to thank Florida State for being such a terrific host," said Army head coach Joe Sottolano. "You know this is the third regional that we've been to in the last six seasons and this was very classy and well-run. It was something that not only myself but more importantly our players will always remember. It's another step in what we are trying to do and what these guys believe in and where they want the program to go. Florida State made this a great opportunity.
"I'd also like to congratulate Auburn. Looking at that team, they had an opportunity to fold coming into today after a (difficult) loss last night, and losing their first baseman who is a significant impact player. They had a lot to be depressed about and then turned around and kept their composure and really played well. From our end, obviously we are not pleased with the outcome, but we have a lot to be thankful and grateful for and we'll put it in our memory box and hope to be back some day."
Sunday's contest marked the final collegiate contest for nine Black Knight seniors - Dan Cappello, Walker Gorham, Wade Greenlee, Justin Kashner, Scott Komaromy, Jason Meloy, David Plotts, Nate Stone and Schuyler Williamson. The group played a large role in Army recording the most successful back-to-back seasons in school history.
"It's rough ... it's really rough," said Williamson. "You never think of ending the game, you know your last game, but everything doesn't work out the way you want it to. I've got a lot to look forward to. I've got a brand new career I can look forward to and try to be just as good as I've done in my baseball career ever since I was five. I have no regrets with how I played my whole life. I think me and the other seniors are happy with the way we played and the way we competed this season and the way we went out."
Prior to last season, the Black Knights had never won more than 26 games in any season. Army finished 37-15 a year ago and has registered a 76-29 record (.724) the last two seasons. In addition to capturing consecutive Patriot League championships for the first time in school history, Army also earned back-to-back trips to the NCAA Regionals for the first time.