Baseball Drops Second Game of Weekend Road Series
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
|
Kean | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 | 9 | 1 |
UNION, N.J. – The Mitchell College baseball team was defeated 4-2 by Kean University on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference clash at Jim Hynes '63 Baseball Stadium, marking the second straight defeat for the Mariners at the hands of the Cougars in the season opening two-game road series.
For the second straight day, junior Adam Vartanian (Cumberland, R.I.) picked up two hits for the Mariners. The second baseman also drove in a run, while junior Thai-ler Sestokas (Danbury, Conn.) was responsible for the other Mitchell run, finishing 1-4 with a double, one RBI, and one run scored. Sophomore Chas Terni Jr. (Montville, Conn.) added his first double of the spring in the loss.
The Cougars opened the scoring on an RBI double to left field off the bat of CJ Tomalavage in the bottom of the first inning. Mitchell was quick to respond, plating two in the top of the second when Terni Jr. led off with a double to centerfield, and was then driven home on an RBI double to right by Sestoakas. Sophomore Chase Donahue (Shirley, Mass.) then singled to advance Sestokas to third, and he was driven in two batters later on a single through the left side by Vartanian, giving the Mariners a 2-1 edge.
After a pair of scoreless frames, Kean knotted the score when Tyler Stone singled in Justin Teixeira, then took a 3-2 lead when the next batter, Tomalavage, drove home Kyle Adorno with a run scoring base hit to center. The Cougars tacked on one more run when they were able to string together a two-out rally and load the bases against Mitchell sophomore Joshua Scamman (Rochester, N.H.), who proceeded to hit a batter.
Adorno and Stone had three hits apiece for Kean, who is off to a 4-0 start to their season. Tomalavage drove in a team-high two batters, while Stone and Dan Reistle had one RBI each.
Senior Eddie Kaftan (Old Lyme, Conn.) was the hard luck loser, surrendering just two earned runs and striking out seven across six innings of work. Junior Jacob Quiles (Wallkill, N.Y.) tossed one and a third innings of scoreless ball out of the bullpen for Mitchell.
Kean's Jason Gilman picked up his second win of the season after tossing seven innings of two run ball, walking one and striking out 10. Cal Chase pitched two innings of scoreless ball in relief for his first save of the season.
The Mariners (0-2, 0-0 GNAC) will return to New London for their home opener against Rhode Island College on Friday, February 28, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 pm. The Cougars will look to run their season opening winning streak to five games when they return to action on Tuesday, February 25, at home against Widener University.
