Four Unanswered Runs Lead Baseball Past Keene State
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team used four unanswered runs—including a three-run seventh inning—to claim a 6-3 victory over Keene State College on Thursday afternoon.
Hunter Yaworski paced Mitchell with three hits and plated a run in the seventh-inning rally. Right-hander Ryan Solimine returned to the mound, making his first start since the 2020 season. Kevin Vining picked up the win in relief while Kenny Heon secured the game's final out to earn his first save of the year.
The Mariners (20-7 overall) locked up their second straight win over a Little East Conference opponent. Mitchell is now 8-0 against the LEC under head coach Travis Beausoleil.
Wyatt Daft, Trent Mayer and Mark Barrett each finished with two hits to lead Keene State, which dropped to 6-20 on the season. Reliever Patrick McKeighan suffered the loss, allowing three runs on three hits over 2.0 innings of work.
Mitchell jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth after loading the bases with only one out. Lelo Martinez knocked in the first run with a single to left field, and John-John Jose followed with a sacrifice fly to left to score the second.
The lead didn't last long as the Owls scored three in the fifth to go up 3-2. Daft brought in the first run with a single through the left side, and Barrett scored the tying run when Keene State executed a double steal. A Mitchell throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to score before reliever Camren Varney got out of the inning.
Mitchell looked poised for a big inning in the sixth after loading the bases with no outs. However, the Mariners only got one run out of the frame, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Martinez.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the seventh, singles by Matt Falk and Justin Adorno and a hit batter loaded the bases once again. This time the Mariners cashed in, with Bo Yaworski drawing a walk to force in the go-ahead run. Dougie DelaCruz followed with a ground out to score another, and an infield hit by H. Yaworski made it 6-3.
Vining made the margin stand, pitching into the ninth before allowing a pair of runners on base. The Mariners then turned to Heon, who quickly got ahead in the count and struck out the final batter to end the game.
Vining (2-1 overall) tossed 3.1 innings of shutout ball and allowed three hits while striking out one. Solimine was also sharp in his season debut, striking out four over 3.0 scoreless frames.
Keene State starter Joe Barter allowed just one hit in 3.0 scoreless innings of work.
Mitchell returns to conference play at home against Lesley University on Saturday, April 23 at noon.