Denison Baseball opened the Division III College World Series Championship Series with a 6-0 victory over No. 6 Endicott on June 3, 2026, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of series in Eastlake, Ohio.
Cooper Marrs carried the attack for Denison, working seven scoreless innings and improving to 7-0 on the year, and Ryan Pagenelis closed out the final two frames. Marrs did not allow a run and surrendered his first baserunner in the fourth inning; Jeremy Krendel took the loss for Endicott and fell to 4-2.
The early offense made the difference. Denison plated three runs in the first inning — Erik Sundgren drove in the game’s first run with a flare off the right-field wall, Max Fishbein followed with an RBI single to left, and Andrew Fazio produced an RBI groundout. Kelly Crittenberger extended the margin with a sacrifice fly in the third, a wild pitch produced a fifth run in the sixth, and Cade Nowik delivered insurance with a base hit in the seventh.
Statistically the game was decisive: a shutout, a seven-inning starting performance, and a clean finish from the bullpen turned a tense title chase into a statement win. Endicott managed no runs against Denison’s pitching staff, leaving the visitors searching for answers across nine innings while Denison converted limited opportunities into a multi-run opening that never let up.
That result carries weight because of how Denison arrived at this moment. The season entering June 3 had already been exceptional — a 44-game win streak, an NCAC championship and sweeps through regional and super regional play — and this victory moved Denison into the Championship Series for the first time in program history. The team is also making its second straight trip to the College World Series, a run that had built expectations and pressure alike.
The win is not without context that complicates the celebration. Denison dropped the opener in Eastlake earlier in the tournament and was forced into the loser's bracket, winning consecutive elimination games to reach the Championship Series. That loser's-bracket grind tested depth and stamina and reframed this shutout: it is both a statement of peak performance and a necessary step after a stumble that nearly ended the run.
For Denison the immediate question is practical and urgent: can the staff that produced a seven-inning gem from Marrs and a clean two-inning finish from Pagenelis sustain that level through the remainder of the series after the wear of the loser's-bracket route? The 1-0 series edge gives Denison choice and pressure at once — choice to control the next game at home in Eastlake, pressure to close the deal and convert a program milestone into a national title.
Endicott, shut out in Game 1, must respond with adjustments to its lineup and pitching usage; Denison must prove this outing was more than a single dominant start. The most consequential unresolved question now is whether Denison can finish the Championship Series and turn a long season of streaks and comeback wins into a national championship.
