Saturday, June 19:
(1-2) SUPERFUND Wanderers Vienna – Olimpija Karlovac 2-7 (10), 1-2
Host Olimpija Karlovac has won the European Cup Qualifier in Croatia after erasing a 0-1 deficit in the best-of-three series against the Austrian champion SUPFERUND Wanderers Vienna on Saturday. Vienna had won on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
On Saturday morning Olimpija needed a five-run rally in the top of the tenth to edge out a 7-2 victory against the Wanderers, forcing a game three in the final series. Marko Matijevic capped the five-run outburst with a two-run homerun. Karlovac already had taken a 2-0 lead in the fourth frame, when Mladen Krpanec drove in a run with a single and Damir Karin stole home. But Vienna came back, cutting the deficit to a run on a RBI single by Clemens Cichocki in the fifth and tying the contest thanks to an error in the seventh. Carlos Tovar (W 2-0) went the distance, allowing nine hits, two runs (1 ER) and three bb in ten innings. He struck out twelve. Cichocki began for the Wanderers, issuing nine hits, two runs and four walks in eight innings. Hiro Sakanashi (L 0-1) took the loss in relief.
In the rubber match of the series afterwards the 200 people in attendance saw another nail biter. Karlovac prevailed 2-1 after scoring the decisive run in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI single by Stefan Rajacic. Clemens Cichocki and Evan Miles had exchanged sac flies in the opening period, but only Olimpija was able to score another time afterwards. Aleksandar Vuckovic and Mario Zdelar (W 1-0) combined to allow just five hits, a run and a walk in nine innings. Johannes Godler (L 1-1) gave up seven hits, two runs and two bb in eight innings, taking the loss.
