April 27, 2019

Springfield and WPI play marathon day

More news about: Schreiner | Springfield | Texas Lutheran | WPI
Lancaster Bible earned a pair of huge wins on Saturday, as
the Chargers swept a doubleheader from Cazenovia at
Charger Field to keep its NEAC playoff hopes alive. The
Chargers took game one, 9-6, and then won, 20-7 in game
two, as Lancaster Bible improved to 10-17 overall and 6-8
in NEAC action, while the Wildcats fell to 4-20 overall and
1-12 in conference play.
Lancaster Bible athletics photo

Rhodes scored five runs in the first inning on their way to a 14-4 7-inning victory over No. 8 ranked Millsaps College Saturday. Normally there is no run-rule in SAA Tournament play, but due to rain moving in later in the evening, the rule was implemented to make every effort to get all three games in on Saturday. The Lynx need to defeat Hendrix once on Sunday to earn a spot in the final SAA playoff series. Hendrix defeated Centre 4-3 and Millsaps 14-4 to reach the final with Rhodes. In the second pod, No. 25 Birmingham-Southern defeated Oglethorpe 4-3 as the remaining undefeated team in their pod. They will play Oglethorpe who defeated Berry 7-4 in a rematch of Saturday's winners bracket final. Berry ended Sewanee's season with a 6-1 win.

Whitman has already made program history and is now one game away from making more. The Blues took down host Whitworth 5-3 to move within one win of a Northwest Conference Tournament title and an automatic birth to the NCAA Tournament. With the tournament played in a double elimination format, Whitman remains as the lone unbeaten team and will retake the field Sunday needing to be beaten twice. They will play either Whitworth or Pacific as the Saturday was suspended with Whitworth leading Pacific 6-3 in the 8th inning.

No. 23 LaGrange got a strong pitching performance from senior Austin Fain in blanking N.C. Wesleyan 8-0 in the USA South Tournament on Saturday at Cleavleand Field in Williamson Stadium. The win puts the Panthers (29-9) into the championship game for the third straight year. LC will play Sunday against Greensboro. Greensboro's Cinderella story continued as the Pride baseball team defeated Huntingdon 15-4 and the Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan College 10-2 in two elimination games.  With the win, the Pride advanced to the USA South Championship series for just the third time in program history.

Wesley split a doubleheader with the Marywood Pacers on Saturday. Since Marywood and Wesley had the same record and the same run differential in the conference, Wesley clinched the sixth seed in the upcoming Atlantic East Conference Championship Tournament with their win in the second game of the doubleheader. Prior to the game, Wesley recognized William Musser, William Foster and Alex Stathes for Senior Day. As the sixth seed, Wesley will travel to compete in Pod A of the Atlantic East Conference Championship Tournament, starting on Friday, May 3. Wesley opens with the Pod A host and top-seeded Cabrini on Friday before taking on the fourth-seeded Immaculata Mighty Macs.

Springfield finshed off the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference West regular-season series against WPI on Archie Allen Field on Saturday afternoon, and the Pride dropped game one, 2-1, in 18 innings, before the Pride was able to come from behind and beat the Engineers, 6-5, in 11 innings in game two. Springfield now sits at 20-16 overall with a 8-9 mark in the league, while WPI moves to 22-14 on the year with an idential 8-9 mark against league opponents. With idential conference records, both the Pride and WPI earn a share of the NEWMAC West Division Title. Because WPI defeated Springfield College two out of the three games the two sides played, the Pride will be the No. 5 seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championship Tournament, and will travel to fourth-seeded MIT on Thursday, May 2.

Oberlin earned its first North Coast Athletic Conference sweep of the season, defeating the Kenyon Lords by the scores of 8-2 and 9-2 on Saturday afternoon at Dill Field. In game one, right hander Ian Dinsmore was simply sensational in the complete game victory as he struck out six and walked just two while scattering seven hits over the nine-inning masterpiece. His performance was backed by a quality start from Zachary Steer as the southpaw put together six strong innings, allowing just one run and three walks with five punchouts. Sophomore duo Lawrence Hamilton and Alexis Castillo powered the Yeomen at the plate as Hamilton finished 5-for-9 with two runs scored, while Castillo went 4-for-9 with five RBIs.

Becker College's senior Tanyon Ventres helped the Hawks sweep the Bulldogs of Dean College Saturday afternoon with a walk-off home run in the 10th inning of game two, while also batting .500 (3-6) on the day with two homers, earning a save in game one, and going seven strong innings on the mound in game two. The Hawks went ahead to win game two in the bottom of the sixth as they scored two runs on four hits.  Payton Musco earned his first collegiate win on the mound, while Ventres earned his second save of the season in the 7-5 win.

 SUNY Old Westbury came away with 10-9 and 5-1
Skyline Conference regular-season finale wins Saturday
afternoon against the Mount Saint Mary College Knights
(12-16, 6-10 Skyline) from Jackie Robinson Athletic
Complex.  Old Westbury (20-14-1, 12-6 Skyline) improve
to a 7-5 mark against Mount Saint Mary dating back to the
2015 campaign. The Panthers advance to the postseason
for the 12th-straight season and will await seedings for
next week's Skyline Conference Championship.
Old Westbury athletics photo

After a game one loss, Tyler Dunbar pitched a complete game in game two for the Elizabethtown who went on to win 12-3 to salvage the split on Saturday at Volpe Field. Anthony Knight, Robbie Bertucio, and James Kantner each had multi-RBI efforts for the Blue Jays in game two. Elizabethtown (12-23, 5-9 Landmark) had runners on base, in the opener but grounded into three double plays in the first five innings to halt any type of rally attempts.

Louisiana College closed out the 2019 regular season on with a pair of wins over conference rival East Texas Baptist University. The Wildcats scored in the sixth to win game one 3-2, then jumped out to an early lead to win 7-3 in game two. The Wildcats have secured at least a four seed in the upcoming ASC tournament and await the results of other games for their tournament opponent and destination.

Occidental bounced back with a 6-4 win over Cal Lutheran in Game 2 of the series between the teams this weekend, and the first game of a doubleheader at Anderson Field on Saturday. Oxy starter Tom Butler pitched very well, going seven innings with no earned runs, five strikeouts, four hits and four walks. Diego Ramirez came on with one out in the eighth to get the final five outs and earn the save. Justin Hirschberg and the Occidental took down Cal Lutheran 8-1 in Game 3 on Saturday afternoon for a 2-1 series victory this weekend.

Muhlenberg split a doubleheader at Gettysburg to move closer to securing a Centennial Conference playoff berth. Combined with other results, the split left the Mules (19-17, 9-8) tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with Dickinson and Swarthmore. If they beat Dickinson in their home finale on Sunday, they will clinch a spot regardless of what Swarthmore does. Muhlenberg won the first game in a 14-inning marathon, 9-8, before dropping the nightcap, 7-6. Senior Jon Capra went 5-for-8 in the opener, doubling in the tying run in the top of the ninth, singling and scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th and singling in the winning run in the top of the 14th. Senior Matt Riebesell had three extra-base hits (two doubles and a triple), setting the school record for doubles in a season (18) and tying the mark for doubles in a career (40).

In a Little East Conference doubleheader where each team's winning starting pitcher was dominant, Eastern Connecticut State University senior left-hander Nick Rascati pitched a one-hitter and allowed only four baserunners over seven innings in his first start of the year as the Warriors salvaged a split against Castleton University Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium. Rascati (1-0) won his tenth career game in his first start in nearly a year and moved into fourth place all-time with his 69th career appearance. He fanned a career-high nine and allowed only a scratch single to junior Davis Mikell leading off the fourth. Nursing a 1-0 lead, Rascati left the runner at second with two swinging strikeouts and a foul out. In the first game, senior righty Joe Gratton pitched a four-hitter in Castleton's (16-17, 7-7 LEC) 15-2 win stopped after seven innings due to the ten-run rule. In the bottom of the fourth inning in the second game, Eastern (19-14, 7-7 LEC) broke the game open by scoring four runs on four hits, a walk and sacrifice fly, winning 8-2.

Curry wrapped up their Commonwealth Coast Conference schedule by splitting a doubleheader with the Salve Regina Seahawks at home on Saturday afternoon. The Colonels dropped game one 5-3 but came out swinging to mercy their guests in game two 12-2, capping off Senior Day in good spirits. With the split, the Colonels move to 11-23-1 on the year with a 3-10-1 conference mark. Salve goes to 19-14 overall with a CCC record of 8-6.

La Roche University Redhawks clinched their sixth
straight AMCC Regular Season Title and the right to
host the conference tournament after sweeping P
itt-Bradford 4-1, 8-3 on Saturday afternoon.

La Roche athletics photo

Allegheny won game one by a 6-2 count, but dropped the night cap, 4-1, to split with Wittenberg in a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader on Senior Day at the Roberston Baseball Field. The split settles the Gators in at 18-14 overall an 7-6 in the conference with four full games and the conclusion the the second Wabash game from March 30 remaining. The Gators and Little Giants are currently tied for the fourth and final spot in the league tournament and will conclude the March 30 game on Sunday, May 5 in Indiana while Allegheny is in the area taking on DePauw (currently in third) the day before. With tomorrow's nonconference doubleheader against Mount Union canceled, the Gators will be back in action on Wednesday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Kenyon.

Penn State Altoona finished its regular season strong, sweeping Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Medaille at Stewart Athletic Field. With their last regular season games now behind them, the Lions (24-14, 12-6 AMCC) will await the conclusion of the regular season for other teams in the conference to see which seed they will obtain in the upcoming AMCC Tournament. Penn State Altoona finishes its regular season with the most overall wins (24) and AMCC wins (12) since the 2011 squad that went 29-12 overall and 14-3 in the conference. Saturday's doubleheader also took on special significance for Penn State Altoona, as it marked the team's Senior Day. The Lions recognized their four senior players: infielder Austin Anderson, third baseman/pitcher Dylan Bates, outfielder James Mays, and catcher William Zdinak. "Nice way to end the regular season. All four seniors contributed in one way or another today," said Penn State Altoona head coach RJ Barnard. "We will enjoy the wins, but we know the most important part of our season is still yet to come. I'm very proud of the success we had throughout the regular season, and I'm excited to see if we have a playoff run left in the tank."

Washington & Jefferson clinched the top seed in the upcoming PAC tournament with two wins, 4-1,and 11-2 over Grove City this afternoon in Grove City, Pa. With the doubleheader sweep today, the Red & Black widen its lead to six games over the next best team in the conference with four PAC bouts left on the season. W&J is now 19-1 in conference and 25-9 overall, while the Wolverines drop to 13-7 in league play and 23-13 overall.