February 29, 2020

Oswego homers to sweep, Marietta impresses

 
Luther improved to 4-0 after sweeping Hamline, 4-0 and
3-1 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.
Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

Oswego State shelled Wesley with seven home runs on the road to earn a doubleheader sweep.  Behind eight RBI from first baseman Ryan Weiss, the Lakers won a 17-1 shortened game one and then pulled away late in the final two innings of a 13-3 victory.

Tanner Payton and Tanner Coleman gave MacMurray key moments in a split with regional power Hendrix. Hendrix took game one, 11-2, before the Highlanders used a two out, ninth inning rally to complete a come from behind 3-2 win in the nightcap. Payton's two-run single came when the Highlanders were down to their final strike in game two. Additionally, Coleman -- the game two starter -- was great on the bump, escaping jams and keeping the Highlanders within striking distance.

Seamus Kenneally delivered his second game-winning RBI in as many games as Marietta defeated Roanoke, 6-5, at Babb Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. The Etta Express improves to 2-0 over, while the Maroons falls to 5-4 on the "Just like yesterday, we are excited to get a win against a good team on the road," Marietta head coach Brian Brewer said. "Stover scratched and clawed his way through today and then Wiggins did a great job out of the bullpen. He gave us the opportunity to get back in the ball game and take the lead." After allowing Roanoke to score three runs in the top of ninth tying the game at five, the Pioneers rallied in the bottom of the frame for the win.

Chicago began its season on a high note with a 5-1 victory against Loras. Chicago pitching kept Loras hitters at bay all throughout. The Maroons tallied more strikeouts (7) than hits allowed (6) over the course of nine innings. Sophomore Sam Bennett earned the win in his five-inning start that included fours strikeouts, three hits, one walk and one run allowed. First-year Michael Allegri tossed three innings of scoreless relief and senior Patrick Rogers closed out the ninth. Sophomore Benjamin Rosengard provided three of the team's 12 hits on the day. Brian Lyle, Payton Jancsy and Carson Weekley accounted for two hits apiece.

Sul Ross State put Friday's loss behind them and took two on Saturday from East Texas Baptist to claim the three-game set at Kokernot Field. Scores of the games were 9-8 and 13-9 in favor of the Lobos. Chris Ibanez picked up his first win of the season in game one as Ashton Leech finished with a game-high three hits and score. in game two, Jared Lorenz finished with a game-high four RBI on three hits and scored three runs. Tim Johnson, Leech, and Mathew Wheeler each had two RBI.

Centre began its Southern Athletic Association slate with a trip to Sewanee. After snow in the area turned Saturday's scheduled doubleheader into a single game, the Colonels went out and beat the Tigers by a score of 3-2. The Colonels finished with a dozen hits for the game. Will Kirk led all players with three, with Selin, Ahrens and Hope all adding two. Chris Esselman went 1-3 at the plate with a walk and a couple of stolen bases. Carson Werrmann picked up his third win in as many starts, allowing just two hits while striking out nine against four walks in six innings.

Kalamazoo finished its four-game set in California with a pair of wins over Caltech as the Hornets defeated the Beavers 1-0 in game one and 10-4 in extra innings in game two. Jack Tagget was the story for the Hornets in game one as the senior delivered a gem on the mound in his first outing of 2020. Tagget pitched a complete-game shutout as he struck out six batters while allowing just three hits during the seven-inning game. The lone run of the game came off the bat of Ben Chosid as the sophomore shortstop drove in Austin Duff on a groundout in the top of the second inning. The Hornets completed the Saturday sweep of the Beavers in game two as they used 11 hits to earn a 10-4 victory.

Senior JR DiSarcina rapped out five hits on the day, as UMass Dartmouth swept a non-league doubleheader from Becker by scores of 8-2 in the opener and 11-1 in the nightcap in games played at the New England Baseball Complex. DiSarcina and Tucker Hetherman each had two hits as part of an eight-hit attack in the lid-lifter for UMass Dartmouth in support of graduate student Robbie Carrillo, who scattered three hits and fanned eight to pick up the victory. Nate Tellier and DiSarcina paced a 14-hit attack with three hits each in the second contest for the Corsairs, as Hetherman allowed an unearned run on a passed ball over four hitless innings with four strikeouts to pick up the win.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps bounced back from a tough series
opener on Friday at Redlands to sweep a doubleheader
against the Bulldogs behind solid pitching outings from
Diego Avila and Brandon Mitchell alongside five RBI from
Patrick Gavin (pictured) to earn 4-2 and 9-3 wins on
Saturday at Arce Field.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripts athletics photo

A walkoff single by junior Blake Loewe in the bottom of the eighth inning capped a doubleheader sweep by Stevenson of City College of New York at Sugar Field.  The Mustangs downed the Beavers 8-2 in the opener before notching the 6-5 extra-innings triumph in the nightcap. In the opener, Stevenson (4-1) plated all eight of its runs in the bottom half of the third, as the Mustangs sent 12 men to the plate.

LaGrange stretched its winning streak to seven games with a sweep of the University of Dallas at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium. The Panthers (8-4) won 8-2 in the first game and 18-1 in seven innings in the day's second game. LC banged out 32 hits in the game, including a season-high 18 in the second game. Rhett Mixon and Joe Ruth each had five hits on the day. E.J. Churchich drove in six runs on threee hits, including a double and his team-leading third home run of the season. Cael Chatham and Jack Layrisson each had three hits and three RBIs in the second game. Layrisson had two triples included in his hits and also scored four runs. The Panthers got outstanding starting pitching. J.R. Robinson (4-0) allowed two runs in seven innings to pick up the win in Game 1. Robinson scattered six hits, walked one and struck out seven. In the second game, Dalton Brooks surrendered only a first inning run in five innings of work. Brooks struck out a team season-high nine batters. Tyler Harris threw two scoreless innings of relief in the second game.

Alma wrapped up its time in Florida with a doubleheader against Union. Alma finished the RussMatt Tournament with a record of 4-4 and is 5-6 overall. The Scots had its ace, Dylan Dzendzel, on the mound for game one. Dzendzel entered the game with a 2-0 record and 14 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. He continued his dominance on the mound by striking out nine batters on his way to a complete game win, 20-7. Zach Schirmer went 3-4 with a home run and three RBIs, Logan Huff went 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs, Pete Carravallah went 4-4 from the plate, and Jaret Koin added three more RBIs on three hits. Aaron Saenz  got the start for game two. He went five innings and gave up no earned runs. However, the Scots would fall 14-12 in extra innings. Huff had another great game from the plate as he went 3-4 with 3 RBIs. Joshua Robinson also had a great performance at the plate with 4-5 and 2 RBIs. Koin also added three RBIs.

Junior catcher Christian Ezzell went 4-for-5 with a career-best five RBI's and a two-run homer to help Brevard (2-10, 1-4 USAS) take the first game of a USA South Conference doubleheader against NC Wesleyan in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. BC claimed its first conference triumph of the 2020 campaign with an 8-2 victory in the first game before dropping a 12-2 decision in the back end of the twin bill. The pitching duo of Bryce Foster and Huntley Hacker helped keep the Battling Bishop offense in check through the first contest. Foster started the game, pitching three innings of two-hit, shutout ball, striking out a batter. Hacker came in and went the distance, throwing six innings of five-hit, two-run ball while fanning three batters.

Led by Cody Simmons, Whitworth offense exploded for 30 runs in a Northwest Conference doubleheader sweep of visiting Whitman at Merkel Field.  Simmons went 7-10 with nine RBIs and drove in the go-ahead run in both games to lead the Pirates to wins of 14-5 and 16-11 over the Blues. Whitworth (9-3 overall, 2-0 NWC) will try to complete a three-game sweep of Whitman (4-8, 3-2) on Sunday at noon.

After dropping a rough game one, sophomore Colton Meyer threw a gem in game two with a strong performance from the Linfield Wildcats offense. The Pacific Boxers took game one of the double header 15-3, before the Linfield Wildcats took game two to split the doubleheader, 8-4, at Roy Helser Field. Pacific's Andrew Thomas and Tanner Johnson combined for a massive offensive outburst, combining for three home runs in game one win for the Boxers. Pacific entered the day leading the conference in the long ball. Meyer (1-0) gave Linfield exactly what they needed in game two, working six innings of two-run baseball and struck out eight to get his first win of the season.

Widener opened its spring trip to Florida with its first victory of the season, downing Purchase 8-5. Anthony Boccio and Greg Elfreth each had two hits in the game. Boccio drove in two runs and Elfreth knocked in one.mJustin Costanzo made his collegiate debut memorable, taking his first career swing over the wall for a home run. The Blue and Gold drew seven walks in the game. Tommy McParland and Bryce Fremgen each walked twice.

The weather was freezing, but Vassar lit up the scoreboard
with five Brewers recording a multi-hit game against Rivier
on Saturday morning. Vassar had 15 hits on the day,
defeating the Raiders 16-7 to move to 2-0 overall. Rivier,
meanwhile, slips to 0-2.
Vassar athletics photo

Graduate student Kinston Carson recorded five hits on the day and drove in four runs as he led University of Lynchburg's baseball team in a doubleheader sweep of York Saturday afternoon by scores of 4-3 and 12-1.

First-year Head Coach Zach Bishop earned his first career win as Westminster (Mo.) defeated Eureka 12-2 at Lenz Field in Jacksonville, Ill. The Blue Jays totaled 17 hits in the contest and are now 1-0 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. "Getting the first one under my belt certainly feels good. I'm just happy for my guys. We dropped a couple of close ones opening week and bounced back well to start conference play today," said Bishop. The Blue Jays put up four runs in the top of the second off an RBI single from Parker Schnieders, an error and a two-run single by Branden Beeler. In the third Derek Shikles doubled and was driven in by Trevor Rhoads to make the score 5-0. Westminster added another run in the fourth when Ryan Clavin doubled down the right-field line to drive in Beeler. The Red Devils got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Blue Jays scored two runs in the fifth and another two in the sixth to take a commanding 10-1 lead. Westminster added on with runs in the seventh and eighth to take the game 12-2 for their first win of the season.

George Fox took both double-header games against the Puget Sound Loggers by finals of 12-1 and 7-5 to claim the season series on day one. In game one, Christopher Stone earned the win with six strong innings of one-run baseball, surrendering his only run in the bottom of the fifth, a home run from Ricardo Barraza. Voelzke finished the first game 4-5 with three RBIs and a run. Matt Ramirez was 3-4 with two RBIs and three runs of his own, including a home run. Sam Swenson went 3-5 with three doubles, an RBI, and two runs. Game two featured Trevor Nannini and Swenson again. Both drove in two runs in four at bats each. Kitson had a breakout performance on offense and went 3-4 with a run scored.

Husson (1-1) kicked off the 2020 season by splitting a non-conference doubleheader with Salem State (1-2) in Husson's earliest season opener in program history by one day on Saturday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex. The Vikings dealt the Eagles an 8-0 setback in the opener and Husson salvaged the split with an 11-7 triumph in the nightcap. With the victory in the night cap, the Eagles provided first-year skipper Chris Morris with the first collegiate victory of his career.

Millsaps returned home on Saturday afternoon for a non-conference matchup with the Millikin Big Blue. The Majors scored first, but were forced to fight back and retake the lead in the middle innings. In the end, Millsaps was able to hold off a late Millikin rally to secure the 9-8 win. It is the second victory in a row for the Majors, who now stand at 4-5 overall on the season.