WENHAM, Mass. —Gordon College defeated Trinity College (Conn.) 12-9 on Wednesday afternoon at J. Tec White Field. Gordon's Larry Torres (Bronx, N.Y.) earned the win, in his first start as a Fighting Scot, pitching four strong innings while allowing just a run on four hits with two strikeouts. The win improves the Fighting Scot record to 8-12 while Trinity falls to 10-11 on the season.
Gordon's offensive firepower was showcased in the first inning when Mark Fitzgerald (Camarillo, Calif.) hit an RBI single to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) tacked another run onto Gordon's tab with a solo shot over the left field fence in the bottom of the third inning.
Trinity retaliated in the fourth, when Daniel Pidgeon (Darien, Conn.) reached on an error, scoring Colton Dana (Marblehead, Mass.). Dana singled for Trinity's first hit of the game with two outs before Pidgeon hit a towering fly ball to center. Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) had a beat on it, but dropped the ball to allow Dana to scoot all the way from first. Torres forced a groundout to get out of the inning.
The bottom of the fourth proved to be Gordon's breakout inning, as the team scored six runs off a Demers' grand-slam, his second homer of the day, and a 2-run homer from Fitzgerald, his second run-scoring hit of the day. The Scots held an 8-1 scoring advantage following the inning, their largest lead of the season.
Gordon continued its scoring barrage in the fifth, as Travis Pullen (Las Vegas, Nev.) doubled down the left field line, scoring Tarr from first base. Demers added to his career day when he advanced to home on a wild pitch, extending Gordon's lead to nine runs.
Trinity's bats came back to life over the final four innings, beginning in the top of the sixth, as Jonathan Frank (Vernon, Conn.) belted a homer over the right field fence, making it a 12-2 game.
Gordon grew its lead to a game-high 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning by loading the bases with only one out in the frame. Alonzo Martinez (El Paso, Texas) and Jared Kefalas (Wenham, Mass.) both singled to start the inning, while Jeremy Jackson (Waco, Texas) walked. Martinez was tagged out at home on a fielder's choice, but Demers provided another big hit with a single to right field to plate Kefalas. Pullen was hit during the next at-bat to drive in another score.
The Bantams scored in each of the final three innings to make things interesting down the stretch. Bryan Wolfe (La Habra Heights, Calif.) doubled in a run in the seventh before Carter Snyder (Lemont, Ill.) and Jake Bennett (Norwell, Mass.) each drove in a run in the eighth.
Trinity strung six hits together in the top of the ninth, including two spurts of three consecutive singles to chip away at Gordon's lead. Caleb Bae (Canyon Country, Calif.) came into the game with two outs in the ninth to shut things down and got the tying run to ground out to end the game.
Chris Speer (Westport, Conn.) dropped to 2-3 in the ledger, allowing 11 hits and five runs in four innings of work. The Trinity bullpen allowed four runs and four hits over the final four innings while striking out four Gordon batters.