DECATUR, Ill. - Webster University saw its 2021 baseball season come to a close here Saturday evening as the No. 2 ranked and No. 2 seeded Gorloks fell 8-2 to No. 3 seeded Denison University in an elimination round game of the NCAA Division III Decatur Regional at the Workman Family Baseball Field on the Millikin University campus.

With Saturday's defeat, Webster closes the season with a 37-8 overall record and went 2-2 in the Decatur Regional, while Denison improved to 26-12 overall and advances to Sunday's championship round where they will face No. 1 ranked and top-seed WashU. 

Webster's trip to the NCAA Tournament this season was its fourth consecutive and 14th overall in school history and along with earning its 14th trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, the Gorloks also won its 14th consecutive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title and also took home the SLIAC Tournament title for the third consecutive season. 

The 37 wins are tied for the second most in the program's history as the 2018 team won a school record 38 games and posted a 38-10 record. The eight losses are the fewest in a full season of play for Webster since the 2014 team went 37-7. 

Webster closed out the season setting several school records for pitching during the 2021 as they set a new single school mark for ERA as the Gorloks posted a 2.19 this season, which bettered the old school mark of 2.76 set in 2014. In addition to a new school mark for ERA, the Gorloks also set a new school single season mark for strikeouts (419), which bettered the old mark of 417 set in 2017.
 

Saturday's game also marked the final game for at least 12 of Webster's seniors this season as those seniors not expected to return next season are pitcher Jake Anderson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook), pitcher Sean Beaver (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch), pitcher Garrett Davis (Geneva, Ill./Elgin CC), All-American first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro), infielder Jake Knoebel (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East), outfielder Adam Lovell (Lafayette, Ind./Saint Joseph's College), pitcher Matt Mulhearn (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic), pitcher Andrew Padilla (Burbank, Ill./Reavis), infielder Kellen Quigley (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and designated hitter A.J. Smith (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin). 

In Saturday's loss to Denison, the Gorloks finished with nine hits, but were unable to score more than two runs thanks to hitting into five double plays as they left seven runners on base. Denison stranded 10 runners for the game.

Second-year freshman leftfielder Landon Vahle (Lee's Summit, Mo./St. Michael Archangel) had three of Webster's nine hits, while freshman designated hitter R.J. LaRocco (San Diego, Calif./Point Loma) and fifth-year senior Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) each had two hits in the loss. 

Webster's first double play came in the top of the first as after Lovell reached on a bunt single to open the game, LaRocco would ground into a 6-3 double play. 

The Big Red, who picked up an 8-1 win over the Gorloks in the winner's bracket on Friday night, opened the scoring in Saturday's game in the bottom of the first as they used a lead-off double by Dylan Hunter, a hit by pitch and an RBI single by Will Krushena to take a 1-0 lead in the game. 

In the second inning, Smith reached on a throwing error by Denison pitcher Henry Haack and advanced to third on the play and Vahle then followed with an RBI single through the left side. The next hitter, though, third-year sophomore third baseman Mitch Daniels (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The Big Red broke the game wide open in the bottom of the second as they sent nine hitters to the plate and scored six runs on four hits and an error to take a 7-1 lead. The big hits in the inning were a 2-run double to center by Danny Alvarez and 2-run ground-ruled double down the left field off the bat of Krushena. In the inning, the Gorloks used three pitchers to record three outs as freshman J.T. Miller (Centennial, Colo./Regis Jesuit) opened the inning by allowing a walk and a bunt single before giving way to third-year junior Joey Marko (Winfield, Mo./Winfield), who allowed three hits and one walk in the one-third of an inning he pitched and then junior Kowalski (Ottawa, Ill./Ottawa Township) replaced Marco and retired the two hitters he faced on a sacrifice fly to left and a strikeout.

Webster's third double play came in the third inning as after Hopp reached base on a one-out single, Lovell would hit into a 6-3 double play to end the inning. 

The next Gorlok double play came in the fourth inning as LaRocco opened the frame with a single, moved to second on a one-out single to center by fourth-year junior All-American shortstop Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport), but Smith would ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. 

Denison had a chance to add another run to its tally in the fourth as they put runners on second and third thanks to a walk, a single and an error by Kowalski on a failed pickoff attempt. 

Vahle would reach third base in the top of the fifth thanks to a lead off single, a ground out and a wild pitch, but would be left on base as Haack would induce Hopp to fly out right to end the inning. 

The Big Red grew its lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the fifth as they used three singles and a stolen base to plate a run on an RBI single to center by Hunter.

In the bottom of the sixth, Denison loaded the bases on two singles and a hit by pitch, before Anderson would get out of the jam by forcing Owen Wilson to ground out to third to end in the inning with the bases full. 

Webster would add its second run of the game in the eighth as Hopp reached on a single up the middle, which came one batter after third-year sophomore catcher Zach Goodman (Greenwood Village, Colo./Arapahoe) hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Following Hopp's single, Lovell walked and then LaRocco hit an RBI single right that plated Hopp to drop WU's deficit to 8-2. After LaRocco's single, Kent would then draw a four-pitch walk, before Andrew Brown relieved Haack and he struck out Swords on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. 

Beaver would retire the side in the eighth as he struck out two of the three hitters he faced in his final collegiate game. Beaver was the sixth pitcher of the night for the Gorloks and the second consecutive pitcher to retire the Big Red in order as fifth-year senior Cooper Hake (Lincoln, Ill./IU-South Bend) retired all thee hitters he faced in the seventh. 

The Gorloks would make things interesting in the ninth as Smith walked to open the inning, moved to second on an single by Vahle off of Caleb Struewing, who was the third pitcher of the game for Denison, but Struewing would retire the next three Gorlok hitters in order, including striking out Hopp looking to end the game. 

Anthony Ruggieri paced Denison with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate with two runs scored, while Hunter, Alvarez, Krushena and Wilson each had two hits on the night. 

Haack (2-1) picked up the win as the he pitched a season high 7.2 innings and allowed eight hits and two runs (one earned), while walking two and fanning none. 

Miller (2-2) took the loss for the Gorloks as he pitched 1-plus innings and allowed three hits and three runs, while walking two and striking out two.