May 3, 2013

Top seeds go down to defeat on Friday

More news about: Franklin and Marshall | Gallaudet | Johns Hopkins | Manhattanville | Misericordia | Penn State-Berks | Roger Williams | Western New England
Brendan DeMond retired the final 13 straight batters to close out the contest.
Franklin and Marshall athletics photo

Brendan DeMond tossed a complete-game four-hit shutout to lift Franklin & Marshall past No. 6 Johns Hopkins 3-0 in the opening round of the Centennial Conference Baseball Tournament on Friday afternoon.The fourth-seeded Diplomats will meet second-seeded Gettysburg, a 5-3 winner over third-seeded Haverford in Friday's other first-round matchup. The top-seeded Blue Jays will take on Haverford in an elimination game.

Keystone jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of the first game of Friday’s CSAC Baseball Championships and never looked back on their way to a 15-3 victory over Centenary at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, PA. The topped-seeded Giants, will play Neumann on Saturday. Will Flores went 4-for-5 with five RBI for Neumann as they defeated Gwynedd-Mercy 14-8.

Junior Alex Basso pitched into the 10th inning and ended the game with 149 pitches thrown to keep Manhattanville in the first game of the Freedom Conference Tournament against top-seeded Misericordia. The Valiants took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th inning and were able to make the lead stick to pick up the victory. Second-seeded DeSales plated two in the bottom of the ninth to upend the FDU-Florham Devils by a score of 8-7.

Commonwealth Player of the Year Leon Stimpson went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI and Pitcher of the Year Kevin Becker-Menditto closed the door with a 7-out save to carry top-seeded Alvernia into the Championship Round of the Commonwealth Baseball Championship with an 8-2 win over #2 Arcadia at Owls Field.

Vincent Roth allowed just two extra base hits over 7.2 strong innings on the mound for the Seahawks as the Salve Regina defeated Wentworth Tech, 9-3, in the second round of the CCC tournament. With the victory, the Seahawks advance to the weekend portion of the tournament as the only undefeated team in the tournament. In a must-win game to keep their tournament hopes alive, Endicott blasted three home runs and defeated Curry 13-1 at North Field, knocking the Colonels out of the double-elimination championship. Roger Williams beat No. 1 Western New England by a score of 7-5.

Max Rosing had two extra-base hits in Cortland's win in the opener if the SUNYAC tournament.
Cortland photo by Darl Zehr photography

The top-seeded and nationally third-ranked Cortland opened the four-team, double-elimination SUNYAC Tournament with an 11-3 win over fourth-seeded Fredonia at Wallace Field. Max Rosing (2-for-4, HR, 2B) and Zack Graczyk (2-for-3, 2B) were part of the Red Dragon's offensive explosion. The Red Dragons will face third-seeded Oswego in a winner's bracket game Saturday. Fredonia will play second-seeded New Paltz in an elimination game. Oswego defeated New Paltz, 9-5, in Friday's second game.

Day one of the Inaugural SCIAC at George “Sparky” Anderson Field in Ullman Stadium saw fireworks at both fields. At Cal Lutheran, the SCIAC champions held on for a 4-3 victory over Occidental. In the other first round game Redlands used a 10-run eighth inning to lift the Bulldogs past Pomona-Pitzer by a 14-8 margin. All four teams will converge tomorrow at Cal Lutheran.

Salem State sophomore Cato Lacroix tossed 7.2 strong innings and freshman Richard Facteau went 2-for-3 with two RBIs as both helped lead the top-seeded Vikings to a 7-1 triumph over #4 Worcester State in the Quarterfinal round of the MASCAC Tournament. The Vikings will play #2 Framingham State tomorrow in the winners bracket game of the Semifinals at 1 PM while the Lancers try to stave off elimination in the losers bracket game at 10 AM against fourth-seeded Westfield State. Framingham State defeated Westfield State 9-3.

Penn State Harrisburg put itself in the driver's seat of the NEAC postseason championship tournament by winning both of its opening round games. The Lions dismantled Penn State Abington 9-1 in their first outing of the day before holding off Penn State Berks 4-3 in their final contest of the afternoon. Penn State Berks defeated top seeded Gallaudet 5-3.

Skidmore closed out its home schedule with a Liberty League spilt with Rensselaer. The Thoroughbreds blanked the Engineers 7-0 in the first game and lost a tight 4-3 contest in the nightcap. The teams will close out the regular season with another pair tomorrow in Troy. Skidmore is mathematically alive for a playoff berth. RPI can tie Union for first, but the Dutchmen hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, so the Engineers will be the second seed in next weekend's tournament.

Jeff Spillane worked into the eighth and picked up the win for Texas Lutheran.
Texas Lutheran athletics photo

Texas Lutheran seniors Jeff Spillane, Jennings Booth, and Sean Kistler led the Bulldogs to a 4-1 win over Louisiana College in the opening game of the ASC Championship Tournament championship round. Spillane pitched into the eighth inning, struck out five and allowed just one earned run. Boothe doubled home two runs in the third inning, and Kistler notched the save, his 14th of the season, with 1.1 innings scoreless and two strikeouts. Texas-Tyler earned a spot against Texas Lutheran with a 7-4 win over Concordia (Texas). Junior Billy Lirely had the big-hit of the night, a bases-loaded double that cleared the bases.

Southern Maine pounded out 19 hits in the first game of a Little East Conference doubleheader to take a split with the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs at the USM Baseball Stadium in Gorham, Maine.  Southern Maine earned a seven-inning 16-3 win over the Corsairs in the opener and then fell 9-4 in the second game. In the opener senior John Carey was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI, while senior Nick Grady was 2-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored to pace the Huskies' attack. Senior Logan Carman gave the Huskies' five solid innings to earn his ninth win of the season and remain undefeated at 9-0.

Despite rallying from a four-run deficit and tying the game on a two-run double by junior Joe Mendez in the ninth, the St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) fell to Lehman College as the Lightning plated a run in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 walk-off victory at South Field. The Bears have now lost two games in a row both in walk-off fashion while the Lightning conclude their 2013 regular season having won three games in a row.

Host and tournament top-seed Daniel Webster along with second seeded Mitchell earned opening day victories at the NECC baseball tournament at Harvey Woods Field. Daniel Webster, the defending champion, topped fourth-seeded Becker, 3-1 in the day’s opener while Mitchell held off third-seeded Elms, 7-6 in the nightcap.