Baseball Drops Two at Dodd Stadium
NORWICH, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team dropped two games at Dodd Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, falling 17-5 to Coast Guard Academy in non-conference action before taking NECC foe Lesley University to extra innings before losing 8-5.
Game One - Coast Guard 17, Mitchell 5
Coast Guard batted around in both the second and third innings and jumped out to a 9-1 lead en route to a 17-5 win its final game of the season.
Eddie Kalankiewicz and Blake Thompson each had three hits as 12 different Coast Guard players hit safely in the 19-hit attack. Kalankiewicz, who finishes his career with 99 career hits, had a double, scored four runs and also stole three bases in the win. Thompson had a double and drove in three runs as Coast Guard finished the season 14-21.
Kalankiewicz had a hit in each of his first three at bats to bring his career total to 99, but walked and grounded out twice, just getting nipped at first base in the bottom of the eighth.
Nick Peters (1-0), making his first career start, got his first career win as he was the designated pitcher of record before the game and worked three innings allowing just one hit and an earned run. He was the first of seven Coast Guard pitchers in the game.
Sophomore Travis Gembecki (0-3) took the loss for Mitchell. He started and went 2.2 innings and was charged with nine runs (eight earned).
Nolan Gallagher had two hits including a double and two RBIs while Cameron Carroll and Tyler Babkiewich each had a two hits including a double and an RBI for the Bears.
Game Two - Lesley 8, Mitchell 5 (8 innings)
Mitchell rallied from a five-run deficit to force extra innings against Lesley, but the Lynx answered with a three-run eighth inning to come away with an 8-5 victory in a New England Collegiate Conference showdown.
Lesley (8-23 overall, 4-11 NECC) put up five runs in the second inning but watched the lead slip away down the stretch. Mitchell (7-18 overall, 6-9 NECC) scored three runs in the fifth to cut the margin to 5-4 and pushed across the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Ryan McQuade put the Lynx back in front with an RBI single in the top of the eighth that scored Patrick Melo from second base. Later on in the frame, the Mariners intentionally walked the bases loaded and brought the infield in for a play at home. Aqib Shah didn't give them a chance, delivering a double to right-center field to bring in two more runs.
Mitchell brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth, but reliever Noah Shaw got the final out on a line drive to left field to cement his second save of the season. Starting pitcher Jeff Landry went 7.0 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits and struck out four to earn the win. He improved to 3-4 on the season.
Mitchell starter Tyler Shultis didn't make it out of the second inning as the Lynx plated five runs on three hits and an error. A two-run single by Adam Ciampi put the Lynx on the board, and Robert Parson later followed with a grounder to short that brought in another run. Lesley made it 4-0 when Shah drew a bases-loaded walk and then scored its final run on a wild pitch.
The Mariners slowly chipped away at the lead. Senior Tommy Derosier singled to center in the bottom of the second to score the first Mitchell run. In the third frame, senior Ethan Graynor supplied an RBI single while Shultis plated a run with a sacrifice fly. Graynor later scored the final run when Derosier dropped down a bunt with two outs and beat the throw to first base.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Graynor reached base after being hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base. Sophomore Lucas Mariani came in to pinch run for Graynor and moved over to second base on another hit batsman. After a wild pitch moved Mariani to third, freshman Justin Lemanski hit a pop up to shallow right that was deep enough to score the runner.
Freshman Mike Grofsick pitched 6.0 innings of solid relief but was saddled with the loss. He allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and walked five while striking out two.
Mitchell will next host Southern Vermont College for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 28 at noon. Lesley returns to action at Becker College on Saturday at noon.