Ferris Leads Baseball Past Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Rookie southpaw Bryton Ferris allowed just four hits and one earned run and struck out seven over 7.2 innings as Mitchell College beat Coast Guard Academy, 9-2, in non-conference game action.

Ferris improved to 4-0 as Mitchell won its sixth straight. The Mariners are now 21-3 on the season while Coast Guard dropped to 14-12.

Coast Guard struck first in the third inning as Matt Hanks singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a fielding error. The lead held up early, though Mitchell broke the game open with six runs on five hits in the fourth inning. Kenneth Olszewski tied the game with a RBI triple and scored on a passed ball for a 2-1 lead. Ryan Goodwin added an RBI double, Tyler Pina delivered a RBI single and Peter McTernan capped things with a sacrifice fly for a 6-1 lead.

The Mariners added three more in the sixth with back-to-back RBI doubles from Gavin LaLima and Kyle Hartenstein before an RBI single by Evan Peck made its 9-1.

Coast Guard got its final run in the eighth on a RBI single by Brendan McNeil that knocked in Mark Behne, who walked.

Evan McClain threw 1.1 innings of hitless relief with one strikeout to close it out for Mitchell. Joe Siciliano (2-2) was touched for six hits and six runs – four earned – over the first four innings and took the loss.

LaLima had three hits and two RBI to lead Mitchell while Hartenstein added two hits in the win.

Mitchell will next play at Wesleyan University on Wednesday, April 22 at 4 p.m. The Cardinals (18-6 overall) are the top-ranked team in New England in the latest NEIBA poll.