Baseball Takes Two From Newbury

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Mitchell College baseball team opened New England Collegiate Conference play with a pair of one-run victories over Newbury College on Saturday, winning by final scores of 3-2 and 4-3 at the Cusic Classic.

Mitchell (3-0 overall, 2-0 NECC) needed late heroics in each game to come out on top. In the opener the Nighthawks had the tying run 90 feet away when reliever Domenick Giaramida came in to nail down the final out. The nightcap was even more dramatic as Kyle Hartenstein delivered a walk-off single in the seventh to secure the sweep.

Mitchell and Newbury (3-3 overall, 0-2 NECC) will complete the three-game series with a nine inning contest on Monday, March 7 at 9 a.m.

Game 1 – Mitchell 3, Newbury 2

After three scoreless innings, Mitchell put runners at the corners with one out in the fourth. Connor Farmer doubled to score both runners and gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead. He then added an RBI single in the sixth to bump the lead to 3-0, and the extra run proved crucial.

Mitchell starter Al Jordan Johnson pitched around trouble in the first three innings but cruised through the middle frames. He came out for the seventh and gave up a leadoff double before retiring the next two batters. The final out proved hard to come by as the next three Nighthawks all reached base and the score narrowed to 3-2.

The Mariners went to the bullpen for the final out and Giaramida delivered, getting a ground out to first base to end the game. The save was his first of the season. Johnson picked up the win and finished with eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings.

Farmer, Steven Pagan and Tyler Pina each finished with two hits in the game as Newbury starter Craig Barnett allowed eight total hits.

Game 2 – Mitchell 4, Newbury 3

Mitchell went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Neftali Arroyo. The Mariners plated another run in the fourth to make it 2-0 but yielded three runs in the top of the fifth to trail for the first time this season.

Newbury's lead didn't last long as Mitchell battled back with a run in the home half of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. Pagan led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Tristan Hurley followed with a single to bring in the tying run. He later stole second and tried to score on a single by Hartenstein but was thrown out at the plate.

Reliever Eddie Santiago kept the Nighthawks off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh to keep the game knotted at 3-3. Dan Frattaroli walked to lead off the Mitchell seventh and pinch runner Brandon Russo moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A ground out moved Russo to third before Hartenstein ended the game with a base hit to knock in the winning run.

Santiago tossed 3.0 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win. Mitchell's pitchers held Newbury to just four hits in the game.