Big Inning Pushes Baseball Past Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team rallied back from a four-run deficit to post a 7-5 victory over Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Field.

The Mariners (11-2 overall) trailed 5-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning but scored six runs to pull ahead. Mitchell drew four straight bases-loaded walks to tie the game and then took its first lead of the day on a sacrifice fly by Mike Luzzi.

Head coach Travis Beausoleil also reached a milestone, claiming the 100th victory of his career in his fifth season at Mitchell.  

Tristan Hurley went 4-for-4 with a double and a run scored to lead the Mitchell offense. Tyler Pina and Dan Frattaroli also finished with a pair of hits.

Coast Guard jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Kyle Wood plated the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right, and the second came moments later courtesy of a Mitchell fielding error. The Bears tacked on another run in the second inning on a two-out double by Mark Behne that scored Trey Rittenhouse from first base.

Mitchell put up a run in the third on an RBI single by Pina. The Mariners then had the bases loaded with one out before Coast Guard starter Cody Bain got a double play to avoid further damage.

The Bears scored two runs in the fifth to increase their lead to 5-1. Zach Serna led off the frame with a homer to left field, his first long ball of the season. After a double by Tim Duncan put runners at second and third, Alex Murdoch grounded out to bring the second run home.

In the Mitchell seventh, singles by Frattaroli and Hurley loaded the bases with only one out. The next four batters all drew walks as Bain and reliever Dan Finn had trouble finding the strike zone. After Luzzi's sacrifice fly put the Mariners in front, Pina and Francis Prettitore executed a double steal that led to the final run of the frame.

Coast Guard threatened in the eighth, putting the tying runs on base with nobody out. Reliever Domenick Giaramida came in to face the heart of the CGA lineup and was up to the task, striking out two and getting a fly out to right to escape the jam.

The Bears got a leadoff single from Murdoch in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Giaramida didn't allow a runner into scoring position while securing the final three outs. He picked up his third save of the season and gave up just one hit in 2.0 scoreless innings of work.

Mitchell starter Bryton Ferris picked up the win and improved to 2-0. He pitched 7.0 innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out seven.

Bain allowed five runs (four earned) over 6.1 innings and struck out four. Finn took the loss and dropped to 1-1 on the season.

Mitchell will next play at Southern Vermont College on Wednesday, March 23 at 1 p.m. Coast Guard returns to action at Wesleyan University on Thursday, March 24 at 4 p.m.