Baseball Splits on Opening Day
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Mitchell College baseball team opened the 2012 season with a doubleheaders split against Eastern Nazarene College on Friday at the Gene Cusic Classic. The Mariners dropped the first game 6-5 before bouncing back for a 6-5 win in the rain-shortened second meeting.
The win was the first in the collegiate coaching career of Travis Beausoleil. Freshman Nick Carlson led the Mitchell offense on the day, going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and four RBI. Classmate Evan Peck also had three hits and drove in a run.
Mitchell jumped out to an early lead in the first game by scoring runs in each of the first three innings. Senior Ethan Graynor got the Mariners started with an RBI single in the first, and a double by Drew Doyle and single by Tyler Shultis each plated runs in the second. Carlson followed with an RBI double in the third frame to extend the lead to 4-0.
Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit in half with two runs in the third and later tied the game with a two-run fifth. The Mariners didn't help their own cause in the inning, commiting a pair of errors to start the frame.
Mitchell scored a run in the sixth on an RBI single by senior Tommy Derosier to pull back ahead. But the Lions scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning--again aided by a pair of Mitchell fielding errors--to take the lead for good.
Freshman Mike Grofsick got the starting nod on the hill for the Mariners and was solid in his collegiate debut. He threw 5.0 innings and gave up five runs (three earned) on nine hits and struck out four.
In the second game, Mitchell trailed 5-1 before rallying for five runs in the fourth inning to take the lead. Carlson highlighted the comeback with a bases-loaded single that plated two runs, and the Mariners went ahead when he later scored on a fielder's choice by junior Pablo Rivera.
Sophomore Nick Braunreuther set the Lions down in order in the fifth before rain forced a premature end to the contest. Braunreuther threw 2.1 hitless innings of relief to pick up his first career win and struck out three without issuing a walk. Shultis made the start and gave up five runs (one earned) on two hits in 2.2 innings.
Mitchell returns to action on Saturday at the Cusic Classic with games against North Park at noon and St. Lawrence at 3 p.m.