Baseball Rallies Late to Split with Becker

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team split a New England Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Becker College on Saturday afternoon, falling 2-0 in the opener before rallying for a 4-3 walk-off win in the second game.

Strong pitching and timely hitting were key for Becker in the first game. Keon Jenkins and Jason Silbor combined for the shutout and held the Mariners to only four hits, and Chris Testa and Randall Minogue accounted for half of the Hawks' eight hits.

In the second game, Becker was one strike away from the sweep before a RBI double by senior Marc Dorsi tied the game at 3-3. The Mariners then loaded the bases and scored the winning run on a balk.

Becker (8-9 overall, 6-3 NECC) will host Mitchell (8-9-1 overall, 4-4 NECC) for the final game of the three-game series on Sunday, April 6 at noon.

Game 1 – Becker 2, Mitchell 0

Becker scored the game's only runs in the third inning, both on the same play. With runners on first and second with one out, Mike Marcello singled to right field to score Matt Consigli from second base. However, the throw to the plate clipped Marcello as he rounded first, and Testa—who moved from first to third on the hit—was able to scamper home to make it 2-0.

Mitchell stranded runners in every inning but the fourth and left a total of 12 men on base. The Mariners loaded the bases in both the first and fifth innings but came up empty as Jenkins worked out of trouble each time.

Silbor made it interesting in the seventh, hitting a pair of Mitchell batters to bring the winning run to the plate with only one out. However, he retired the next two batters by getting a foul out and ground out to record his first save of the season.

Jenkins (2-1 overall) allowed only three hits over 5.0 innings and worked around five walks while striking out three. Silbor gave up only one hit over a scoreless 2.0 innings of relief. Mitchell starter Al Jordan Johnson dropped to 1-2 on the season and surrendered two runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings with seven walk and four strikeouts.

Game 2 – Mitchell 4, Becker 3

Becker pushed across three runs in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead in the second game. Consigli got things rolling with a RBI single to score Testa, and following a Mitchell fielding error the Hawks added runs on a Tom Natoli ground out and a wild pitch.

Mitchell got two runs back in the fourth. Dorsi led off with a single to left and stole second base to move into scoring position. The Mariners plated their first run of the day on a double to center by junior Evan Peck, who later came around to score on a two-out single to center by sophomore Neftali Arroyo.

The Hawks lifted starting pitcher Tony Cantalupo before the seventh and sent Tyler Wagar to the mound to close out the game. Wagar hit the first batter he faced to put the tying run on base. The Mariners moved the runner into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, though Wagar struck out the next batter to bring Mitchell to its final out.

Dorsi was down 1-2 in the count before he ripped a double to right field to drive in the tying run. Wagar then walked the next two batters to load the bases before a balk brought home the winning run.

Dorsi played a part in all three of Mitchell's runs, driving in the tying run while scoring twice. He and Peck both finished with two hits in the game.

Mitchell starter Tyler Shamas benefited from the late rally to improve to 4-2 on the season. He threw 7.0 innings and allowed one earned run on seven hits while striking out six.

Cantalupo gave up two runs on five hits and struck out five in 6.0 innings of work. Wagar (0-1) took the loss for the Hawks, allowing two runs on one hit.