Baseball Completes Sweep at Elms

HOLYOKE, Mass. – Mitchell College completed a four-game series sweep of Elms College on Sunday afternoon at MacKenzie Stadium.

Mitchell junior right-hander Mike Tandy struck out four in 8.0 innings and freshman Nova Crespo cracked a two-run homer to right field to help pace the Mariners to the 8-4 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) victory. Jeff Dowling then picked up his first career win in relief as the Mariners followed with a 6-5 victory in non-league action.

Elms outfielder Dan McCormack lifted a two-run homer to right field in game two and scored four total runs.

Mitchell improved to 15-10 overall and 10-2 in league play. Elms dropped to 10-13 overall and 3-4 in NECC action.

Game 1 -- Mitchell 8, Elms 4 

Elms took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Alex King drove in McCormack with a sacrifice fly. Mitchell answered when Crespo blasted a two-out, two-run homer over the right field fence that scored freshman Neftali Arroyo.

The Blazers tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Stephen Fisher drove in Aedin Wadja, who singled to lead off the frame. The Mariners pulled away in the top of the seventh behind a two-run double to right-center by junior Marc Dorsi, RBI singles by Arroyo and sophomore Gavin LaLima and a sacrifice fly by junior Kenneth Olszewski.

McCormack scored on an infield miscue in the top of the seventh, and Mitchell responded with a run in the top the eighth when freshman Eddie Lorah connected for a sacrifice fly to set the score at 8-3. Nolan Medeiros singled to left-center to start the Blazers' eighth, stole second and then scored on a single to left field by Brian Langdon to cut the deficit to 8-4, but it wasn't enough.

Tandy allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits and struck out four in 8.0 innings of work to improve to 4-3 on the mound. Elms starter Thomas Weldon moved to 3-2 overall, allowing seven runs (four earned) on seven hits in 6.1 innings.

Josh Zurita allowed just one hit in 1.0 scoreless inning of relief for Mitchell. Blazers reliever Ryan Burnette surrendered just one unearned run on two hits in 2.2 frames of relief. 

Crespo and Dorsi drove in two runs each for the Mariners, while LaLima, Dorsi and Arroyo delivered two hits apiece. 

McCormack finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored while Mederios was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Designated hitter Sam Farnsworth also finished with two hits for the Blazers.

Game 2 -- Mitchell 6, Elms 5 (7 innings)

Mitchell pushed across two runs in the top of the first inning before Elms answered with three in the bottom of the frame, sparked by RBI singles from King and Fisher.

After Elms starting pitcher Geoffrey Frost retired the side in order in the second, the Blazers added to their lead when Brady Forrest singled to start the frame and then came full circle when McCormack cranked the Blazers first home run of the season to right field. The two-run shot gave Elms a 5-2 lead. 

Mitchell took the lead in the top of the third when Dorsi delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, followed by a run-scoring double to right-center by Arroyo, a sacrifice fly to center by sophomore Rafael Garcia and a single up the middle by sophomore Drew Doyle. The end result of the inning was a 6-5 lead that the Mariners would never relinquish.

Dowling took the mound to start the third for the Mariners and pitched 5.0 innings of scoreless baseball. He allowed just one hit and struck out eight batters. 

Frost allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits in the 2.1 inning no-decision. Bryan Leonard took the loss and moved to 0-1 on the season, allowing one run on three hits in 1.2 frames of work. 

Forrest had two hits in the losing effort for Elms, while LaLima was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and Dorsi and Arroyo each drove in two runs to highlight the win for Mitchell.  

Mitchell returns to action at home against Lesley University on Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m.