Hartford, Conn. – It was an exciting afternoon for the Trinity College baseball team, as the Bantams recorded a pair one-run, walk-off victories against the visiting Brandeis University, 3-2, in 10 innings and, 4-3, in seven innings. Trinity improves to 15-16 and extends its winning streak to six games, while Brandeis drops to 13-19 and has four losses in a row. Both games were scheduled for seven innings.
In the first game, Trinity tied the score in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring its first run of the afternoon on a Judge error, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single by junior 2B Connor Sullivan (Fairfield, Conn.). Brandeis, which had scored an unearned run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by sophomore C Connor Doyle (Avon, Conn.), went ahead, 2-1, in the top of the eighth frame. Junior SS Brian Allen (Salem, N.H.) was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and then was hit by freshman Ryan Tettemer's (Westfield, Mass.) batted ball between first and second base for the first out. Tettemer was awarded a single and stole second base before scoring on a two-out RBI double by senior co-captain Brian Ing (Sandwich, Mass.). With two outs in the bottom of the eighth frame, junior 1B Bryan Wolfe (La Habra Heights, Calif.) kept Trinity alive with a solo blast over the left field wall to tie the game at 2-2. Trinity freshman Colton Dana (Marblehead, Mass.) followed with a double, but Judge junior co-captain RHP Kyle Brenner (Brookfield, Mass.), who pitched all 9.2 innings, got the third out on a ground ball to shortstop.
In the ninth inning, Brandeis junior Tom McCarthy (Yonkers, N.Y.) led off with a single and was sacrificed to second base, but Trinity senior captain reliever David O'Brien (Fairfield, Conn.) entered the game for fellow senior captain righty Peter Burrows (Floral Park, N.Y.) and got a fly ball and strikeout to end the threat. Trinity junior OF Evan Abraham (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and freshman SS Nick DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) singled back to back in the bottom of the ninth, but the Bantams left runners on first and third. After a 1-2-3 top of the 10th inning for O'Brien, Bantam sophomore 3B Daniel Pidgeon (Darien, Conn.) started the bottom of the frame with a single. Two outs followed, but Dana singled Pidgeon to third and Sullivan drove him home to end the game with a single through the hole. O'Brien improved to 4-1, retiring all five batters he faced with two strikeouts, while Burrows yielded seven hits and one earned run with no walks and five K's in 8.1 innings of work. Brenner gave up 13 hits and two earned runs without a walk and fanned seven Bantams. Sullivan finished 4-for-5 at the plate with a double and two RBI, while Dana and Pidgeon also had two hits.
Trailing, 3-1, heading into the bottom of the sixth inning of game two, Trinity scored twice to tie it on singles by junior CF Scott Huley (Greenwich, Conn.) and Pidgeon and a two-out, two-run double by sophomore Matt Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.). Brandeis loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Trinity senior captain starter Ryan Carr (Cos Cob, Conn.) registered the final Judge out of the game on a ground ball to second base. Sullivan led off the bottom of the seventh inning and reached on a Brandeis error. DiBenedetto singled and Abraham's sacrifice bunt was misplayed in front of the mount to load up the bases without an out. Trinity rookie OF Nick Pezzella (Worcester, Mass.) ended it quickly with a single to right field to give Carr his third win of the year against two losses and his second complete game of the spring. Carr allowed seven hits and walked one with four strikeouts, while senior righty Colin Markel (Scarsdale, N.Y.) surrendered six hits, three runs, and one free pass with one K over six innings for the Judges. Rookie RHP Liam Coughlin (Townsend, Mass.) started the seventh on the hill for Brandeis and dropped to 0-2 with the loss. Mortimer, Pezzella, and Judge sophomore CF Sam Miller (Sudbury, Mass.) each had two hits in the nightcap.