NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team slugged its way to a pair of wins over Becker College on Friday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at Alumni Field.
The Mariners produced 41 hits in the doubleheader en route to 13-7 and 23-2 victories. Freshman Neftali Arroyo went 6-for-6 with five RBI on the day and hit for the cycle in the opener to pace Mitchell. Taylor Kapulka went 3-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI to lead Becker.
Mitchell (9-7 overall, 5-0 NECC) and Becker (0-14 overall, 0-5 NECC) will finish out a three-game series with a single nine inning game on Saturday, March 30 at noon. The game will be played at Mitchell with Becker batting as the home team.
Game 1 – Mitchell 13, Becker 7
Todd Tompkins led off the game with a single and later scored on a ground out by Tom Natoli to give Becker an early 1-0 lead. Mitchell tied the game in the second on a triple by Arroyo that scored junior Kenneth Olszewski.
The Mariners scored six runs in the third to take control. Arroyo highlighted the rally with his first career homer, a two-run blast to left-center that put Mitchell up 7-1.
After Olszewski doubled in a run in the fourth to extend the lead to 8-1, Becker bounced back with four runs in the fifth to cut the deficit to three. Natoli delivered a two-out, two-run single in the frame while Kapulka added an RBI single.
Arroyo led off the bottom half of the fifth with a double to left and scored when freshman Nova Crespo followed with a double of his own. Sophomore Gavin LaLima also doubled in the frame to plate a run and later scored on a ground out by classmate Drew Doyle.
Becker got two runs back in the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Mike Marcello and a sacrifice fly by D.J. Reed. However, the Mariners matched them in the home half of the sixth when freshman Eddie Lorah doubled in a pair of runs.
Arroyo needed only a single to complete the cycle and got it in the sixth with a line drive to right. He finished with three RBI in the game. Olszewski also drove in three runs and finished with three hits that included a double.
Mitchell starter Al Jordan Johnson tossed 5.0 innings in the win and allowed five runs on six hits with two walks. Tony Cantalupo took the loss for Becker, surrendering 11 runs (10 earned) on 11 hits over 4.1 innings.
Game 2 – Mitchell 23, Becker 2
Mitchell's offense exploded for 26 hits and produced runs in every inning. The Mariners batted around in both the first and fifth innings, and all nine starters finished with at least one hit. Doyle and Olszewski each finished with four hits in the game that included a pair of doubles apiece.
A six-run first inning gave freshman starter Tyler Shamas all the run support he would need. The right-hander threw 6.0 innings of shutout ball and gave up only three hits while striking out five. He improved to 3-1 overall on the season and 2-0 in NECC play.
The Mariners sent a total of 13 batters to the plate in the fifth inning and scored seven runs to go up 22-0. Junior Jeff Dowling had a two-run homer and an RBI single in the frame to lead the charge.
Becker got on the scoreboard in the seventh thanks to an RBI single by Reed that scored Chris Flanders. The Hawks finished the game with six hits.
Becker starter Chris O'Rourke dropped to 0-2 on the season. He lasted 1.0 inning and gave up six runs on six hits.