Baseball Wraps Florida Trip With Three Wins in 19 Hours

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Mitchell College baseball team wrapped up its Florida trip by winning three games over a 19-hour span, taking a doubleheader from Waynesburg University by scores of 18-6 and 14-6 on Thursday night before trumping Husson University by an 11-3 final on Friday morning.

The Mariners return home with an 8-1 record and an eight-game winning streak. The eight wins ties for the most on the team's annual spring Florida trip, matching the total from both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Mitchell will next play at Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, 17 at 1 p.m.

Friday: Mitchell 11, Husson 3

After playing a marathon, seven-hour doubleheader against Waynesburg that wrapped up just before midnight, Mitchell had a quick turnaround for its 9 a.m. start against Husson on Friday. The Mariners jumped out to a 4-2 lead before pulling away with four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth.

Steven Pagan finished with four hits and three RBI as the Mariners pounded out 18 total hits. Kyle Hartenstein and James Rangel also added three hits apiece. Reliever Brian Ricker took the ball in the second inning and allowed only one run on three hits over 6.1 innings to earn the win. 

The Mariners trailed 1-0 after two but tied the game in the third on an RBI single by Hartenstein. Mitchell went on top in the fourth when a single by Jeremy Santos scored Pagan. Hartenstein knocked in another run in the fifth while Pagan plated one in the sixth to extend the to 4-1.

Husson nicked Ricker for a run in the sixth, but Mitchell responded in the top of the seventh. Pagan plated the first run and Markus Melendez followed with a two-run double. In the eighth Rangel, Pagan and Melendez all provided RBI singles as the lead ballooned to 10-2.

Thursday, Game 2: Mitchell 14, Waynesburg 6

The Mariners led 3-0 early but fell behind 5-3 in the top of the fifth. Mitchell responded by plating eight runs in the home half of the inning to take the lead for good. 

Mitchell's big fifth inning came with some help from the Waynesburg rotation, which issued three walks and hit three batters in the frame. The rally started with two outs as Rangel walked and Pagan singled to load the bases. The next four batters all forced in runs, three via hit by pitches and one by a walk. Eric Marriott then supplied a bases-clearing triple to make it an 11-5 game.

Marriott finished with three hits and five RBI to lead the offense. Pagan also had three hits while Hartenstein and Peter Abate finished with two apiece.

Starter Drew Daley picked up his second win of the trip, tossing 4.0 innings while allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits. Cameron Albin, Connor Dulin and Jeff Nicolosi each logged 1.0 inning in relief to close out the victory.

Thursday, Game 1: Mitchell 18, Waynesburg 6

Waynesburg led 6-5 after five innings but surrendered 13 runs over the final two frames as Mitchell took the series opener. Abate had four hits in the contest while Rangel and Santos each finished with three.

Bryce Bedard picked up his second win in relief. He allowed two hits over 3.0 scoreless innings and struck out four. Starter Jakari Pellegrini fanned six over 4.0 innings of work.

In the sixth, Michael Santiago and Rolando Marcano each provided two-run singles while Abate and Melendez also knocked in runs. Griffin, Bedard, Santos and Abate also tacked on RBI singles in the seventh to help cement the win.