Fighting Bees baseball team rolls to regional title

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By the Quad-City Times staff | Saturday, May 12, 2007 12:45 AM CDT | () comments

La CROSSE, Wis. — The St. Ambrose University baseball team left no doubt.

The Fighting Bees’ offensive attack busted loose for the fourth straight game as they easily rolled to the championship of the NAIA Region VII tournament at Copeland Park.

This time they rapped out 14 hits and also got a strong outing by starting pitcher Evan Cooling to defeat Mount Mercy College 8-4 in the title game.

It was the Bees’ closest game of the tournament. They earlier defeated Olivet Nazarene 12-2, St. Francis 8-3 and Saint Xavier 11-4.

St. Ambrose, which has won 15 of its past 17 games and is 28-16, moves to the NAIA Super Regionals next week.

It will travel to face Region VIII champion Spring Arbor (Mich.) College, the nation’s fifth-ranked team, in a best-of-3 series.

The winner will earn a spot in the NAIA World Series, which begins May 25 in Lewiston, Idaho.

The top-seeded Bees started slowly Friday, but posted three runs each in the third and fifth innings and added two more in the sixth to cap an undefeated run through the regional.

First baseman Adam Wulfekuhle had four hits, and second baseman Joey Martin and left fielder Casey Raisbeck added three hits apiece. Raisbeck, a former Orion star, finished the four-game tournament with 11 hits. Wulfekuhle had nine.

Mark Gaulden added three RBIs and started the St. Ambrose scoring with a two-run double in the bottom of the third to erase an early 1-0 Mount Mercy lead.

Ryan Lincoln followed with a double to drive in another run, and the Bees eventually raced to an 8-1 lead.

While his teammates were building him a lead, Cooling kept the Mustangs at bay. The former Wilton High School athlete allowed just five hits and one earned run over seven innings while striking out six. Paul Koeppl and Daniel Cutler combined to pitch the final two innings with Cutler striking out the side in the ninth.

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or e-mail sports@qctimes.com