EVANSVILLE, Ind.--Led by freshmen RHPs Matt Page and Matt Netherton, Norton’s Navy defeated Bacsu’s Bashers 4-2 on Sunday to claim the 2007 Fall World Series Championship.  Page earned the victory with four shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out six.  Netherton picked up the save, allowing two unearned runs on one hit, striking out two.

After an unearned run in the bottom of the first gave them an early lead, Norton’s Navy added to their total the next inning on an RBI ground out from freshman Shawn Kuester that scored junior Andrew Gher.  Page would make the lead stand up, as he retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced.  Bashers sophomore LHP Sean McCarthy was nearly as good, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits in three innings pitched.

In the fifth inning, the Bashers cut their deficit in half on a sacrifice fly from freshman Ryan Fleming that scored sophomore Matt Major, and then loaded the bases on two two-out walks.  That would be as close as they would get, however, when Netherton induced a ground out from junior Derek Melton to end the threat.

Norton’s Navy would follow with two insurance runs in the bottom half of the frame to push the lead to 4-1.  Sophomore Alex Acheson delivered a two-run single to score senior Jim Viscomi and freshman Nate Smith, who had both walked to lead off the inning.

Page was named the Fall World Series Most Outstanding Player.  Gher garnered Offensive MVP honors, going 3-7 with three runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base.  Junior John Foley earned Pitching MVP recognition for his victory in Friday’s game one (4 IP, H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K).

Teams are named in honor of their coaches, former UE standouts Kirk Bacsu and Ben Norton.  Norton and Bacsu are serving as student assistant coaches this fall, after returning from stints playing in the minor league systems of the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals, respectively.