Baseball Eliminated in Extras Against Salem State

MANSFIELD, Conn. --  The Mitchell College baseball team saw its season come to an end with a 3-2 loss in 12 innings against Salem State University on Friday afternoon at the 2016 NCAA Division III New England Regional at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.

Mike Davis' sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th plated the go-ahead run for the Vikings, and Will Twiss pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame for his first save. Eighth-seeded Salem State (25-19-1) advances in the losers' bracket to play in Friday's fourth game at 7:45 p.m. Sixth-seeded Mitchell (28-11) was eliminated following its second loss in three tournament games. 

In a 2-2 game, Mitchell had a chance for a walk-off win when it loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on a hit and two walks, but reliever Pete Gonski (1-1 overall) got foul out to Davis in right to end the threat.

Neither Gonski nor Twiss gave up a hit over the final  3.2 innings. Gonski retired six straight after escaping the ninth inning while Twiss threw 15 pitches in the 12th, getting pinch hitter Peter Abate on a called strike three to end the game.

Trailing 2-0, Mitchell tied the game in the fifth on Tristan Hurley's two-out, two-run single to left – the team's fourth straight single in the inning off starter Mike Richardson. Salem had scored single runs in the third and fourth to move out to a 2-0 lead.

The Vikings made it 1-0 in the third on a leadoff double by No. 9 hitter Mac Daniel Singleton, a single through the left side by Davis and a Richard Fecteau's sacrifice fly. Salem made it 2-0 with an unearned  run in the fourth on consecutive singles by Alex Toomey and Jose Cedano  and a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt.  

Domenick Giaramida (4-3 overall) pitched 4.0 solid relief innings for Mitchell and allowed only five hits and an earned run. After giving up a one-out triple in his first inning of relief in the eighth, he retired seven straight until Davis' two-out infield single in the tenth.

Salem State loaded the bases with no outs against Giaramida in the 12th on an infield single, bunt single and hit-by-pitch. Lefty Brian Ricker came on to get a forceout at home against Singleton for the first out, but Davis followed with his fly ball to right off pitcher Al Jordan Johnson to plate Andrew Deloury for what proved to be the winning run.

Mitchell's Clayton Shaw turned in a quality start, allowing two runs (one earned) on eight hits over 7.0 innings. Hurley and Garet Griffin each finished with two hits to lead the offense.