Baseball Splits with SVC to Win Series

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Mitchell College baseball team split a New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader against Southern Vermont College on Saturday, winning the first game 10-1 before falling 8-7 in the finale.

The split gave the Mariners two wins in the three-game series against the Mountaineers. Mitchell's record moved to 5-4-1 overall (2-1 NECC) while Southern Vermont went to 3-3 overall (1-2 NECC).

Game 1 – Mitchell 10, SVC 1

A solid pitching performance from sophomore Tyler Shamas was enough to propel the Mariners to victory in the opener. Shamas tossed a complete game and struck out a career-high 11 batters while allowing only one run on three hits. He retired the first 12 batters he faced before finally allowing a hit in the fifth inning.

The Mariners gave their starting pitcher plenty of run support, starting with a single run in the first inning. Junior Gavin LaLima led off the game with a single down the left field line and later scored on a fielder's choice. Mitchell then pushed across two more runs in the third—highlighted by a RBI single by junior Ryan Goodwin—to make it 3-0.

After SVC got a run off Shamas in the fifth, the Mariners put the game out of reach with a seven-run sixth inning. LaLima and sophomore Neftali Arroyo each had two-run triples in the frame while junior Peter McTernan, junior Raphael Garcia and senior Marc Dorsi each added RBI singles. 

Shamas finished off the game by striking out three in the seventh to improve to 2-1 on the season. His previous best of 10 strikeouts in a game came last season at Newbury College.

Game 2 – SVC 8, Mitchell 7

Trailing by one heading into the final inning, Mitchell scored four runs in the top of the seventh to grab a 7-4 lead in the nightcap. However, Southern Vermont put up a four-spot in the bottom of the frame and walked off with the win behind a double by Roland Hernandez.

The two sides traded blows throughout the first six innings. Junior Evan Peck put the Mariners on top 1-0 in the first with a RBI single through the right side, but Southern Vermont answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame and added another in the third to go up 3-1. A double by senior Will Charkowsky in the fourth plated another Mitchell run to close the gap, but the Mountaineers picked up a run in the fifth to go up 4-2. In the sixth, freshman Tristan Hurley made it a one-run game once again with a double to left-center that scored Arroyo.

Momentum swung both ways in a frenzied seventh inning. A hit, walk and error loaded the bases for the Mariners, and Charkowsky forced in the tying run after being hit by a pitch. Arroyo later scored from third on a wild pitch, and Goodwin followed with a RBI single up the middle. Mitchell scored its final run on a double steal attempt that allowed Charkowsky to score from third before Goodwin was tagged out at second.

Southern Vermont strung together a pair of walks and four hits to come from three runs down in the seventh. Cody LaBadia delivered the big blow, clearing the bases with a three-run double that tied the game at 7-7. He later scored the winning run on Hernandez's double to complete the wild comeback.

Mitchell starter Al Jordan Johnson lasted 6.0 innings and gave up four runs on four hits while striking out four and walking three.