Baseball Takes Two at Becker
LEICESTER, Mass. -- The Mitchell College baseball team held on to pick up a pair of wins over Becker College on Saturday afternoon, posting final scores of 3-1 and 10-8 in New England Collegiate Conference action at Rochdale Park.
The Mariners fended off late-inning rallies in both games. Becker put the winning run on base in the opener and had the tying runs in scoring position in the nightcap, though Mitchell slammed the door in each instance. Starting pitchers Camren Varney and Jakari Pellegrini each tossed 5.0 innings to earn wins, and reliever Kenny Heon picked up a six-out save.
Mitchell (15-7 overall, 8-2 NECC) took three of four games in the series after a Friday split in New London. The Mariners will next play at New England College on Wednesday, April 28 at 1 p.m.
Game 1 -- Mitchell 3, Becker 1
Mitchell made the most of four hits in the opener, scoring all three runs in the third inning to stake Varney to a 3-0 lead. Jeremy Sagun played a role in all three runs, knocking in two with a double to right-center before scoring the third on a passed ball.
Varney worked out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the second to keep the Hawks off the scoreboard. Becker finally nicked him for a run in the third, but the sophomore did his best to hold the lead. He got out of another tough spot in the fifth, pitching around two errors to strand a pair of runners with the 3-1 lead intact.
Heon took over in the sixth and got out of his own bases-loaded trouble, getting a strike out and ground ball to end the threat. Becker then loaded them up again in the seventh on the strength of a double and two walks, but Heon escaped as the game ended on a ground ball to short in which interference was ruled.
Varney (2-0 overall) surrendered one run on five hits and struck out three over 5.0 innings.
Game 2 -- Mitchell 10, Becker 8
The Mariners jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Dougie DelaCruz got things started with an RBI single. Hunter Yaworski followed with a double to plate DelaCruz, and he later scored on a passed ball for the third run of the frame.
Steve Cochrane added an RBI single in the fourth to make it a 4-0 game. Becker pulled even with four runs in the fifth, the final three coming on a bases-loaded double by Ethan Perry.
Mitchell responded with five runs in the sixth to pull back in front. Anthony Diaz lit the fuse with a two-run double to left-center, and Cochrane followed with a double to left to score another. Michael Santiago then tacked on an RBI single, and DelaCruz ended the rally with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-4.
Anthony Laureano scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to give the Mariners their biggest lead of the day. However, Becker made it interesting in the bottom of the frame, scoring four runs to cut the margin to 10-8. The Hawks had the tying runs in scoring position, but reliever Bryce Bedard got a fly ball to right field to end the game.
Pellegrini (4-3 overall) yielded four runs on six hits and struck out six in 5.0 innings.