Baseball Sweeps Elms on Senior Day

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team closed out the New England Collegiate Conference slate with a pair of victories over Elms College on Sunday afternoon, winning by final scores of 12-4 and 3-0 at Alumni Field.

The Mariners, who extended their winning streak to 17 games, improved to 31-6 overall and finished atop the NECC standings with a 15-1 league record. It marked the first time that the program has reached the 30-win plateau during the regular season, as well as the first time Mitchell has gone undefeated at home (18-0) during the regular season.

Mitchell will next play at Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m. Elms ends the regular season with an overall record of 10-25 (6-10 NECC).

Game 1 – Mitchell 12, Elms 4

Mitchell starter Jakari Pellegrini tossed 5.2 strong innings while the offense piled up 12 runs on 11 hits in the opener. Steve Cochrane finished with three hits and knocked in four runs to pace the Mariners at the plate.

Mitchell put up two runs in the first inning to grab an early lead. Cochrane plated the first run with a double to right-center and then scored on a single to left by Dougie DelaCruz.

The Mariners added five runs in the second to go up by seven. Eric Marriott knocked in two runs with a single to right, and Cochrane followed with an RBI single to left. Steven Pagan then drove in a run with an infield single and Peter Abate capped the rally with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0.

Another five-run outburst built the Mitchell lead to 12-0 in the third. Cochrane connected for a two-run single to get things started, and Abate, Sam Majewski and Anthony Diaz all forced in runs after getting hit by pitches.

Elms got its first run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to left field by Cam Griffin. The Blazers then put up three more in the sixth, highlighted by a two-run homer by Griffin and an RBI double by Austin Roy.

Pellegrini, who improved to 6-1 on the year, allowed two runs on six hits and struck out four. Connor Dulin closed out the game with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and fanned three.

Elms starter Brandon Bennett surrendered seven runs on seven hits and dropped to 1-3 on the season.

Game 2 – Mitchell 3, Elms 0

Brian Ricker allowed only three hits in 6.0 scoreless innings to lead the Mariners to victory in the nightcap. In his first start since his sophomore season, the senior lefty faced only one batter over the minimum and struck out two before turning the ball over to the bullpen. He improved to 2-0 on the season.

DelaCruz went 3-for-3 at the plate and scored two of the team's three runs. Brandon Paiva also finished with a pair of hits in the contest to give him three in the doubleheader.

Mitchell went up 1-0 in the second inning on a ground ball by Majewski that allowed DelaCruz to score from third base. The Mariners added a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Markus Melendez and another in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Justin Johnson to go up 3-0.

Elms starter Jacob Graveline yielded three runs on eight hits over 5.0 innings of work. He dropped to 1-3 on the year.

Prior to the game the Mariners honored 10 seniors–Johnson, Michael Gonzalez, Jason West, Marriott, Brandon Gennotti, Paiva, Pagan, Ricker, Melendez and Abate–in a special ceremony. The group has amassed 117 victories over the past four seasons.