Baseball Rallies from Five Run Deficit to Advance Past Colby-Sawyer
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#4 Colby-Sawyer | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 3 |
|
#1 Mitchell | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 5 | X | 19 | 15 | 3 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Senior Michael Gajda (New Britain, Conn.) went 4-6 with a home run, two RBI, and one run scored, as the top-seeded Mitchell College baseball team overcame an early five run deficit and used a seven run fifth inning to defeat #4 Colby-Sawyer College 19-10 during the second day of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament at Alumni Field.
With the win, the Mariners improve their record to 29-10 and advance to the Sunday's pod finals, where they will face the winner of Saturday afternoon's game between the Chargers and #8 Saint Joseph's College (ME).
The Chargers drew first blood in the winner's bracket game, plating five runs in the top of the first off Mitchell senior Cam Varney (Manchester, N.H.) via an RBI double by Cam Carignan, a bases loaded walk by Evan Dennis, and a bases clearing three-run double off the bat of Janai Cruz.
The Mariners answered with one run in the bottom of the frame after Angel Galindez (Carolina, PR) scored on a fielder's choice. Mitchell then plated three more runs in the second inning to make it a 5-4 game when Michael Gajda belted a solo home run, before Galindez and Robbie DelaCruz (Uncasville, Conn.) laced back to back RBI singles. Colby-Sawyer pushed their lead to two with a run in the top of the third and added another in a fifth, before Mitchell erupted for seven runs in bottom half of the inning to break the game open, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of Cole Lalli (Coventry, Conn.) and an RBI single by Gajda.
Galindez, DelaCruz, and Michael Ficocelli (North Procidence, R.I.) drove in three runs each for the Mariners. DelaCruz finished 3-5 with a pair of RBI and three runs scored, while Ficocello had three hits, including two doubles, and scored once.
After allowing five runs in the first, Varney settled down and picked up his third win of the season for Mitchell, scattering five hits and five walks, striking out seven. Junior Jadan Canelli (Northford, Conn) earned his second save of the spring with four innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen.
Zach Rogers fell to 3-4 on the season after surrendering 10 runs (six earned) in four and one third innings of work.
