Baseball Wraps Up Series at SVC with 9-5 Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 2 |
|
Southern Vt. | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
BENNINGTON, Vt. – A four-run top of the seventh inning put the visiting Mitchell College Mariners in front of Southern Vermont College for good on Sunday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball action at Bill Epstein Field.
The Mariners completed the series sweep with a 9-5 victory and finished tied atop the NECC standings with Daniel Webster College at 15-3. The Eagles earned the top seed and the right to host next weekend's NECC Championship by virtue of their 2-1 head-to-head record with the Mariners.
Freshman catcher Nova Crespo pulled a 3-2 pitch over the right-center fence for a two-run homer to cap the seventh inning for the visitors as they improved to 21-11-1 on the season. The Mountaineers ended the season 5-13 in the conference, 11-24 overall.
Southern Vermont went ahead early on with four runs in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with no outs. Chris Nicastro took advantage and poked one out to right to plate the first Mountaineer run. Roland Hernandez then ripped a single down the left field line to bring across two more, and Nicastro later scored from third on an errant throw.
The Mariners worked their way back over the next two frames, first with three-straight walks to start the top of the third. Following a strikeout, another walk to sophomore Raphael Garcia forced in freshman Neftali Arroyo to make it 4-1.
Mitchell came back with three more in the fourth, started by a Crespo groundout to first that allowed sophomore Evan Peck to motor around from second to score. An ensuing double to right-center off the bat of freshman Eddie Lorah brought in the second run, and a Mountaineer infield miscue then allowed Lorah to come in to tie it at 4-4.
Southern Vermont reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth when defensive replacement AJ Watt slapped one between the Mitchell first and second basemen to score Corey Armstrong.
The top of the seventh saw the Mariners tack up the eventual game-winning runs, all four being scored with two outs. Junior Marc Dorsi stole second and moved to third on a booted one-hop throw that went into the outfield. He then scored on a double down the left field line by sophomore Drew Doyle to make things even at 5-5. Doyle promptly scored on another Mountaineer error for the go-ahead run, and the Crespo jack then put Mitchell up 8-5.
MC added a sliver of insurance in the eighth when Dorsi turned a walk into a tally, swiping second and third and then being driven in on a sacrifice fly to left by junior Kenneth Olszewski. The Mitchell bullpen kept the Mountaineers from coming back while solidifying the 9-5 win.
Mariner sophomore right-handed reliever Nik Kindervater picked up the win (1-1), throwing 3.0 scoreless innings after coming in for the sixth, seventh and eighth. He gave up no hits while walking four and striking out two Mountaineer hitters.
SVC senior Joel DeFedele suffered the loss (0-3) with the three runs (one earned) allowed in 2.2 innings of work out of the pen. He gave up just three hits and one walk in the appearance.
Hernandez was 1-for-3 with the two RBI for Southern Vermont, and Nicastro went 1-for-2 with a run batted in and another scored.
Crespo finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and one scored while Lorah was 2-for-3 with one run scored and another knocked in.
Mitchell will next play a non-conference game against Coast Guard Wednesday, May 1 at Dodd Stadium in Nowich, Conn. The nine inning contest is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
