COLLEGE BASEBALL : NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP : CLU Rallies to Gain Berth in Semifinals

As Cal Lutheran’s fans fell silent and a light rain began to fall at C.O. Brown Stadium on Monday night, Methodist College continued to hit Cal Lutheran pitcher Tim Wimbish.

All appeared lost when the Monarchs scored four times in the fourth inning to gain a 4-1 advantage, a solid lead in this NCAA Division III tournament, where pitching and defense have been dominant.

But the Kingsmen did not fold, rallying for a 7-4 victory and a berth in the tournament semifinals this afternoon against now-familiar Methodist. The winner advances to the championship game tonight against William-Paterson (35-7) of Orange, N.J.

“I think the entire game was a nail biter,” said Bob Farber, whose run-scoring single in the seventh inning proved to be the game-winning hit. Farber’s hit was part of a five-run rally that erased a 4-2 deficit.

“Until the big inning we hadn’t shown our offense,” said Farber, who went four for five to raise his tournament average to a team-leading .466. “We made a team pact after their (Methodist’s) big inning. We said that we would have all good at-bats from that point on.”

Wimbish (6-0) was among the beneficiaries of his teammates’ pledge, emerging as the surprise winner. In a gamble necessitated by the weary condition of the Kingsmen pitching staff, Coach Rich Hill sent Wimbish back to the mound after he allowed four consecutive hits and four runs in the fourth inning.

“I thought about it (pulling him),” Hill said. “But you have to look at how he’s throwing. They got one hit on a bunt, another on a chopper.”

But Wimbish got into trouble again in the fifth after Joe Myrtle--who has feasted on Cal Lutheran pitching with two doubles and a home run in two games--tripled with one out. But Hill stuck with him again and it paid off as Wimbish struck out the next two batters.

Wimbish attributed his recovery to anger.

“It just made me mad,” he said of Methodist’s four-run fourth inning. “Once it happened I tried to focus on keeping the ball down (low) even more.”

Yet Wimbish’s turnaround would have gone for naught without a big assist from the CLU offense.

With the Kingsmen trailing, 4-2, in the seventh, Dan Smith reached base on a one-out bloop single. After Smith stole second, Jay Lucas followed with a run-producing single that chased Methodist starter Matt Boucher.

Switch-hitter Eric Johnson greeted reliever Pat Fachet with a double just inside the left-field line, scoring Lucas and tying the game, 4-4.

“It was just a matter of time before we exploded,” Johnson said.

After Jim Fifer flied out and Darrell McMillin was hit by a pitch, Farber drove in Johnson with a single to left. McMillin and Farber eventually came around to score on errors to up Cal Lutheran’s lead to 7-4.

Louis Birdt came on in relief of Wimbish in the eighth inning, pitching 1 2/3 innings, striking out two and allowing just one hit for his sixth save.