March 31, 2018

Williams and Middlebury take series on the road

More news about: Middlebury | Williams
 
Middlebury is on the short end of the series with
Williams with an all-time 29-88-1 record.
Middlebury athletics photo

Middlebury had the better of their NESCAC opening series with Williams this year, winning on Friday 20-1 on La Verne's home field and splitting with a 6-1 win in gmae one and a 5-3 loss in the nightcap on the Chapman Campus. This is the first year the two teams met in California where previous years saw the series take place in Arizona and Florida. The last time the games were played in on either campus was in 2001.

Holding a 10-run lead midway through the final game of the season series with Millikin, North Central College held on to a 13-10 win on a wild and windy day at Zimmerman Stadium to complete the season sweep and remain unbeaten in CCIW play. Joe Rizzo finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored to pace the Cardinal offense, while Matt Sutherland finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored. 

Rochester split a conference doubleheader with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the second straight day, winning game one before falling by one run in game two. The Yellowjackets (2-8), were able to build out a late lead in the opener and held on for a 7-4 victory.  RPI (9-8) then won game two, edging out Rochester 5-4. Both of Rochester's wins came against RPI.

Rhodes tallied 22 runs and hit five home runs in their doubleheader sweep of conference foe Birmingham-Southern. The Lynx defeated the Panthers 12-4 in game one and earned the series sweep on a 10-6 victory in game two. Rhodes is now 20-10 on the year and tops the Southern Athletic Association standings with a 12-3 league record.

Sophomore right-hander Ben Lambert pitched eight innings to lead the Southern Maine Huskies to a 5-2 victory over the Rhode Island Anchormen in the second game of the teams' Little East Conference doubleheader at Pontarelli Field. The Anchormen hit three home runs and used two big innings to prevail in the first game slugfest 14-11.  The doubleheader was the opening day of conference play for both teams. The split gives the Huskies an 8-6 overall mark heading into their home opener on Wednesday against Bowdoin College.  The Anchormen are now 9-7 overall and host Fitchburg State University on Monday.

Four players tallied multiple-hit contests to send Manchester University to past Hanover College in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action. Coach Rick Espeset's squad, going to 11-9 overall and 1-1 in the league, bounced back from a 7-1 loss to the host Panthers in game one. The upperclassman outfield duo of left fielder Eric Knepper and Tyler LaFollette each nicked Panthers' pitching to the tune of three hits in a 14-5 game two win at K.T. Young Ballpark. Sophomore first baseman Nick Rush and senior third baseman Hunter Lane added two-hit and two-run-batted-in games apiece for the Black and Gold.

Senior captain Jake Shapiro earned the save in
game two of the Bobcats' doubleheader with
Bowdoin on Saturday. Bowdoin won the opener.
Bates athletics photo by Theophil Syslo

The WPI accumulated 33 runs on 43 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Emerson that included a combined 31 runs and 37 hits in the second game Saturday at the New England Baseball Complex. The Engineers took the first game 12-2 and the second 21-10. The Boynton Hillers' 22 hits in game two ties for the most since March 6, 2017 versus Muskingum and the 21 runs is the most since game one at Coast Guard on April 15, 2017.

Justin Griffin capped the season sweep of Thomas More for Washington & Jefferson with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning of game two of a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader. Griffin's game-winning RBI gave the Presidents a 6-5 win following a 10-3 win in game one, led by Bryce Schnatterly on the mound. The two wins improves W&J to 11-8 overall this season and 4-0 in league play while the Saints fall to 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the PAC. It is the first time that W&J has had a regular season sweep of Thomas More since going 3-0 against the Saints in 2014.

Nichols senior Cam Cook went 1-for-4 with a stolen base to become the program's all-time leader in hits (176), and the Bison scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for a 10-7 victory over Worcester State at the New England Baseball Complex. The Bison snap a four game losing skid to improve to 6-11 overall, while the Lancers drop to 4-14. Senior Nick Roy went 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, while classmate Chris Anderson hit his second home run of the season while going 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore Kyle Bouchard also went yard for the Bison, ending the day 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Freshman Justin Hurley got the start for the Bison and went five innings while giving up seven runs (three earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts. Sophomore Brodie Altiere got the final out of the eighth inning via a strikeout to earn the win, and freshman Matthew Stewart earned his fourth save of the season, working around a pair of walks in the ninth.

Braxten Ary went 2-for-4 with his ninth career double and Gregory Cluskey struck out five over 7.0 innings in his second career start, but Fontbonne scored three times in the fourth inning to break a tied score and added later insurance in the eighth to secure a 6-1 SLIAC victory over Eureka, Saturday afternoon at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Mo. The defeat moved the Red Devils' record to 3-8-1 overall and 0-5 in the SLIAC.

Oglethorpe held down the Millsaps lineup all day in a doubleheader sweep of the visiting Majors, winning the first game, 7-4, before coming back with a 6-2 victory in game two. The victory improved the Stormy Petrels to 20-10 on the season overall and 10-5 in SAA play, putting them in third place by themselves. They sit just a game behind Berry for second place and two back of Rhodes for first. Oglethorpe pitchers allowed just five earned runs on 10 hits over 16 innings of play and struck out 16 batters.

Central College led 5-3 midway through Saturday's series finale in Pella before the Beaver offense exploded for 18 unanswered runs en route to a commanding 21-9 Iowa Conference victory over the Dutch. Tyler Heineman pitched a career-high eight innings en route to his first collegiate victory.  He scattered eight hits and struck out four. 

Junior leftfielder Nick Martinez provided the game-winning RBI in both ends of the doubleheader as Montclair State swept Stockton University 7-6 and 5-4 in the NJAC opener for both teams at Yogi Berra Stadium. The Red Hawks (2-0) NJAC improved to 13-6 on the season as they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth of the opener before taking the second game on a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

Washington University split Saturday's UAA doubleheader against New York University on the road at MCU Park, defeating the Violets 6-2 in game one before falling 4-2 in the second. The Bears conclude the day 13-8 overall, with a 2-1 record in UAA play while NYU is now to 16-3, after picking up its first win in the UAA (1-2). WashU outhit NYU 15-11 during the doubleheader while holding the Violets to just four earned runs.

New Jersey City University rallied twice against Kean, forcing extra innings in game two before the schools split their 2018 NJAC opening weekend doubleheader at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. In game one, NJCU (9-5) trailed 4-0 before scoring five runs in the sixth inning and overcame Kean (10-13 by a 7-5 outcome. In game two, Kean scored five runs in the top of the fourth inning to claim an 8-0 lead. NJCU whittled away over the next six turns at the plate and scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, even at 8-8. But Kean scored three runs in the top of the 10th and fended off NJCU, 11-8. Senior first baseman Dan Berardi was a combined 4-for-8 with three RBIs in the twinbill. As a result, he exceeded 130 career hits and 75 RBIs.

Carter Buuck (5-2) was phenomenal in his
ninth start of the season. He fired seven innings,
 giving up two runs on five hits.
Linfield athletics photo by Tim Sofranko

Erupting for 10 runs on 14 hits, the Linfield Wildcats crushed Pacific 10-2 to wrap up the teams' three-game Northwest Conference baseball series. Linfield was by seven dominant innings on the mound by Carter Buuck. Combined with the hot bats of Ryan Ross and Cameron Fox, the Wildcats rolled to the lopsided win Saturday at Roy Helser Field. Winning the series 2-1, Linfield raised its record to 16-14 overall, 10-8 in the NWC. Pacific dropped to 13-17 overall and 8-13 in the NWC. The 'Cats remain in playoff position as the NWC regular season nears a close. With two weeks left to play, Linfield is in the thick of the playoff chase, trailing Whitman (10-7) and league leader Pacific Lutheran (15-3).

University of Dallas got the offense started right away, and never allowed Austin close the gap as the team earned its first SCAC run-rule this season in an 11-1 decision over eight innings. The Crusaders salvaged a win in the series after a pair of one-run setbacks yesterday. Eight runs over the first three innings propelled the home team to a big advantage. Seth Hanson headlined the offense with a two home runs and a career-high five RBI. Austin Anderson threw effectively over five innings to qualify for his first collegiate win. The victory also ended a three-game losing streak.

Baruch swept the Owls from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in a CUNYAC home doubleheader at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York. The Bearcats won with scores of 8-4 and 15-5 to defeat the Owls, who compete this season in CUNYAC as an associate baseball member. In the opener, Paul Sirakowski earned the win and got off to a great start with eight strikeouts by the third inning. Matthew Lawlor pitched two innings of scoreless relief. In the second game, the Bearcats took control early with three runs in the first inning and eight more on seven hits in the third to lead 11-1 and go on and win.

Outstanding pitching carried the Muhlenberg baseball team to a doubleheader sweep at Gettysburg in its first Centennial Conference games of the season. Four pitchers combined to allow just 13 hits and one earned run in 18 innings as the Mules (9-10, 2-0) won 3-2 and 7-1 for their first doubleheader sweep at Gettysburg since 2010. Junior RJ Hennessey struck out a career-high 11 batters - including five straight in one stretch - in six innings to pick up his third win of the season in the opener. Sophomore Matthew D'Ambrosia closed out with three scoreless, one-hit innings to earn his second save. In the nightcap, senior Timmy Pilrun earned his 10th career win, tossing seven innings and allowing no earned runs while striking out six. Freshman Truman Devitt, pitching on his 19th birthday, worked two scoreless innings to complete the sweep, ending the game on a called third strike.