Baseball Completes Series Sweep of Newbury

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team completed the series sweep of Newbury College on Sunday afternoon with 8-7 and 8-5 wins in its first home games of the season.

Senior Carlos Hughes and sophomore Osmer Collado each homered twice for the Mariners (6-2 overall, 3-0 NECC) in the doubleheader. Hughes went a combined 6-for-7 at the plate with seven RBI over the two games to lead the Mitchell offense. Patrick Curry paced Newbury (6-9 overall, 0-3 NECC) with three hits and three RBI on the day.

Game 1: Mitchell 8, Newbury 7

Mitchell got off to a quick start and led 3-0 after the first inning. Junior John Apostolo had a RBI double in the frame while Hughes capped the rally with a bunt single to drive in a run.

Newbury answered with a pair of scores in the second inning to keep it close. Both runs scored on a single to left by Justin MacCutcheon to make it 3-2. The Nighthawks then took the lead in the fourth when a single up the middle by Curry plated another pair of runs to make it 4-3.

The lead didn't last long for Newbury as Mitchell posted three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Anthony Santiago plated the first two runs with a triple to center and scored on a ground out by senior Jeff Perillo to put the Mariners up 6-4.

Hughes hit a two-run homer in the fifth to extend Mitchell's lead to 8-4, and the extra runs proved to be valuable. Newbury scored three times in the sixth to pull within one run. Kyle Schiavone had a RBI single to left in the frame while Russell DeMatties drove in two with a single up the middle.

Senior Drew Rossi pitched the final inning for the Mariners and picked up his first save of the season. Newbury had the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second with two outs, but Rossi got out of the jam by getting the final batter to foul out to right field.

Senior Paul Martinez picked up the win for the Mariners, improving to 3-0 on the season. He allowed seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits and struck out five while walking three in 6.0 innings. Newbury starter Chris Ninteau lasted 4.2 innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits while striking out two and walking six.

Game 2: Mitchell 8, Newbury 5 (note: Newbury batted as the home team)

The Mariners grabbed the early lead once again as RBI singles by Hughes in the first and third innings gave them a 2-0 advantage. The Nighthawks scored three runs in the bottom of the third to pull ahead. Curry got things started with a RBI single and Alex Chetalet tied things up with a sacrifice fly to right. DeMatties followed with a RBI single to put Newbury up 3-2.

The Mariners took the lead right back in the fourth on a two-run homer by Collado, and Hughes added a two-run shot in the sixth to extend the margin to 6-3. After a single by Michael Dean plated a run for the Nighthawks in the fifth, Collado went deep again in the sixth to push the Mitchell lead back to three at 7-4.

Newbury chased Mitchell starter Jon Blair from the game in the sixth after putting two men aboard with nobody out. Perillo took the ball in relief and got the Mariners through the inning, but not before Schiavone singled in a run to make it 7-5.

Perillo helped his own cause in the seventh with a RBI single to give Mitchell a three-run lead again. Newbury got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the frame but couldn't push across any runs.

Blair earned his first collegiate win and gave up five runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He also struck out four and walked two. Perillo earned his first career save and struck out two in 2.0 innings of relief. Zach Griesche took the loss for the Nighthawks and allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits while striking out five and walking two in 5.0 innings.

Mitchell will next play at Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday, March 22 at 3:30 p.m.