Coach Decker Reaches 500 Career Wins As College Head Coach

Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore OF Michael Rueger (Teaneck, N.J.) went 7-for-10 with three doubles, three runs, and three RBI to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 9/11-6/2 doubleheader sweep against the visiting Middlebury College Panthers in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) crossover baseball action this afternoon.  Trinity improves to 18-14 and extends its winning streak to four games, while the Panthers drop to 14-11.  With the second victory, Trinity Head Coach Bill Decker reached 500 wins in his collegiate coaching career.  He is now 492-219 in his career at Trinity and he was 8-23 for one year at Macalester College in Minnesota, giving him a 500-242 record overall.

Trinity came back from a 6-0 deficit in the opener, which was a seven-inning game, with three runs in the fourth inning and six in the seventh, while rookie Peter Burrows (Floral Park, N.Y.) tossed 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.  Bantam senior co-captain RHP Andrew Janiga (Ellington, Conn.) hurled a six-hitter over nine innings in the nightcap with one walk and four strikeouts.

Middlebury scored six runs in the first three innings of the day, as junior Zach Roeder (Keene, N.H.) blasted a two-run homer in the first, Alex Kelly (Rockville, Md.) added an RBI single in the second, and Tyler Wark (Burlington, Vt.) keyed a three-run third with a two-out, two-run single in the third frame.  Trinity rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by an RBI double from junior 1B Kevin Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.), and took the lead for good when Rueger doubled home two runs to tie it at 6-6 and scored on a double by senior co-captain Mark Young (Chester, N.J.) in the sixth.  The Bantams pounded out 18 hits in game two, as Rueger was 4-for-6 and both Young and Mortimer were 3-for-4.  Senior captain Donald McKillop (Poway, Calif.) was 3-for-4 in the first game for Middlebury.