Baseball Cruises to NECC Title Round

NASHUA, N.H. – The Mitchell College baseball team cruised into the New England Collegiate Conference Championship title round with an 11-2 victory over top-seeded Daniel Webster College on Saturday afternoon at Harvey Woods Field.

The second-seeded Mariners (23-12-1 overall) busted out 12 hits on the day, led by a 3-for-5 effort by freshman Neftali Arroyo. The rookie right fielder homered and doubled and drove in a career-high five RBI in the contest. Freshman right-hander Tyler Shamas took care of the rest, allowing only four hits over 9.0 innings and striking out six.

Five Mariners finished with at least two hits in the win. Junior Kenneth Olszewski went 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI and also scored three runs. Classmate Marc Dorsi, sophomore Rafael Garcia and freshman Nova Crespo also contributed a pair of hits each.

Mitchell fell behind 1-0 in the first inning as Daniel Webster nicked Shamas early. Darrik Marstaller hit a one-out double and scored when Kyle Brigham followed with a single to right-center.

The Eagles held the one-run lead until the top of the fourth. Garcia led off with a single to right and Dorsi walked to give the Mariners a pair of runners with no outs. Olszewski then tripled to right-center to put Mitchell on top 2-1, and he later scored on a passed ball to make it 3-1.

Mitchell broke the game open with six runs in the fifth inning. Sophomore Gavin LaLima started the rally with an RBI single to left-center that scored Crespo from second base. Garcia and Olszewski each followed with RBI singles, and Arroyo delivered the big blow with a two-out, bases-loaded double to right-center to drive in three.

A two-run homer by Arroyo in the seventh put Mitchell up 11-1. It was his team-leading third long ball of the season.

After allowing two hits in the first inning, Shamas settled into a groove and didn't allow another hit until the ninth. Daniel Webster scored its final run on a one-out single by Rich Lizotte that scored Brigham, but Shamas bounced back to get a strike out and pop up to end the game.

Shamas, who improved to 9-1 on the season, went the distance for the sixth time this season but the first time in a nine inning game. He faced only 35 batters in the contest and retired 14 straight at one point.

Daniel Webster (25-10 overall) moved to the loser's bracket and will play fourth-seeded Becker College later today. The winner of that game will meet Mitchell in Sunday's title round. A win would give the Mariners their third NECC title (2011, 2010) and second NCAA Championship berth (2011).

First pitch for Sunday's game will be 11 a.m. If a second game is needed, it is slated to begin at 3 p.m.