Trinity Tops Baseball

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team dropped a 9-4 decision to Trinity College on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Alumni Field.

Trinity fell behind by a run before roaring back with nine straight to take command. Christian Orsini finished with four hits out of the leadoff spot to pace the Bantams while Matt Koperniak went 3-for-5 with two RBI.

Trinity starter Colby Fortin was impressive in his first career start, surrendering one run on one hit while striking out five. Four Bantam pitchers combined to hold Mitchell to only three hits on the day.

Mitchell loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning but came away with only one run. After walking two batters and giving up a bunt single, Fortin limited the damage by getting a double play and a ground ball to end the frame.

Despite the rocky start, Fortin quickly settled into a groove and didn't allow another hit over the next five frames. The three baserunners he allowed—none of which advanced past second base—came via walks or hit batters. He improved to 1-0 on the season.

Trinity answered back with a pair of runs in the third inning, both of which scored when Koperniak doubled into the right-center gap. The Bantams then added a run in the fifth on a solo homer by Johnny Stamatis—his second of the season— to expand the lead to 3-1.

A pair of Mitchell errors helped Trinity add to the margin in the sixth. Carter Snyder plated a run with a pinch-hit single to right field, and Ben Reinisch followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.

A two-out grand slam by Geoffrey Stillman broke the game open in the seventh, giving the Bantams a 9-1 lead. The homer was the first of his collegiate career.

Mitchell added its final runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Kyle Hartenstein and a sacrifice fly by Brandon Paiva. The hit by Hartenstein extended his hitting streak to 21 games.

Mitchell starter Bryton Ferris allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits over 5.0 innings and was tagged for his first loss of the season (5-1 overall).

Mitchell (19-5 overall) will next play at Nichols College on Wednesday, April 18 at 3:30 p.m. Trinity (13-10 overall) returns to action at home against Bates College on Friday, April 20 at 3 p.m.