April 26, 2014

Trinity Sweeps Middlebury In Rainy And Windy Baseball Doubleheader

Middlebury, Vt. - The Trinity College baseball team swept a rainy and windy doubleheader at Forbes Field this afternoon against the Middlebury College Panthers, 4/11-1/0. Middlebury baseball team dropped both ends of its Saturday afternoon doubleheader to Trinity at a rainy and windy Forbes Field. The visiting Bantams improved to 13-16 and extended their winning streak to four games.

In game one, Trinity struck for two runs in the top of the first. First-year Nick Pezzella (Worcester, Mass.) walked and scored on a triple to right center by junior Scott Huley (Greenwich, Conn.), who later scored on a wild pitch. The Bantams plated a run in the second when junior Connor Sullivan (Fiarfield, Conn.) singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by first-year Chris Leach (Belle Mead, N.J.). Sullivan advanced to second on a balk and scored on a fielding error to put Trinity up 3-0 in the top of the second.

The Bantams added a run in the final inning as Huley walked and moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt. He later stole third and scored on a throwing error during the attempt. Middlebury rallied in the seventh, but could only plate one run. Jason Lock singled through the right side and then moved to third on a double to right center from John Luke. Garrett Werner earned the RBI when he grounded out to short, scoring Lock. Junior RHP Sean Meekins (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) earned his first win of the season for Trinity, moving to 1-4 after allowing one run and four hits over seven innings and striking out seven. Sophomore Daniel Pidgeon (Darien, Conn.) was the lone multiple-hitter in the game, going 2-4. Eric Truss (0-6) took the loss, allowing two earned runs over six innings, while Eddie DeArias allowed an unearned run in the seventh.

During the nightcap, Trinity's Jed Robinson (Winchester, Mass.) and Middlebury's Cooper Byrne were locked in a pitcher's duel through the first four innings. The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Huley was hit by a pitch. He stole second and scored on a RBI single from junior Brian Wolfe (La Habra Heights, Calif.). The score remained that way until the fifth when Trinity managed two runs on one hit. Sophomore Scott Cullinane (East Greenwich, R.I.) led off with a double down the left field line, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by junior Adam Moossmann (East Northport, N.Y.) and raced home on a sacrifice fly from Pezzella. Junior Evan Abraham (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) made it 3-0 when scored on a balk after drawing a walk behind Cullinane's double.

Trinity exploded for six runs on four hits, and was aided by three Middlebury errors in the sixth. Carson Kenney (Kensington, Md.), Matthew Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.), Abraham, Moossmann and Huley each had RBIs in the frame. The Bantams tacked on a pair in the top of the seventh for the final 11-0 score. Cullinane had a run-scoring double, while Moossmann smacked an RBI single up the middle. Byrne (1-4) suffered the loss for Middlebury. He was charged with seven runs, six earned, along with five hits while striking out four and walking three. Jake Stalcup gave up a pair of unearned runs in his inning of work, while Dylan Takamori surrendered two runs on three hits in the seventh. Joe MacDonald went 2-2 at the plate for the Panthers. Robinson improved to 4-2 for Trinity. The lefty gave up just two hits in his five innings on the mound, striking out seven and not walking a batter. Chris Gallic (North Shore, N.Y.) pitched the final two innings, giving up just two hits with three punchouts. At the plate, Wolfe went 3-4 in game two with a pair of runs scored.