BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southern Vermont College never trailed Wednesday afternoon as the Mountaineers downed Norwich University 15-5 in non-conference baseball action at Bill Epstein Field.
SVC (13-16) collects its second win in as many days, scoring in seven of its eight trips to the plate. NU (7-21) was able to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the third, but Southern Vermont answered with three in the bottom and six more in the fourth for a lead the hosts would not relinquish.
All nine of the starting Mountaineer batters registered a hit with five notching a pair. SeniorCody LaBadia (Howes Cave, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a walk, a grand slam in the fourth helping him record five RBIs on the day while he crossed the plate four times. He has now tallied at least one hit in each SVC contest since being moved to the six-hole for a team-leading seven-game hit streak.
Freshman left fielder Niko D'Agnese (Mahopec, N.Y.) was 2-3 with three runs batted in while classmate Eric Fields (Lakewood, Calif.) went 2-4 with a walk and two runs scored. JuniorRichard Rios (Pico Rivera, Calif.) had a 2-6 showing with two runs scored and an RBI, and senior center fielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) went 2-4 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Southern Vermont was aggressive on the base paths, stealing seven bags with Rios and junior second baseman RJ Pingitore (Amsterdam, N.Y.) each swiping a pair.
Sophomore right-hander R.J. Henle (Plantation, Fla.) picked up his second win of the year (2-0), giving up just three earned runs in his seven innings on the bump. Cadet sophomore lefty Brian Albert (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) suffered the loss (1-4), going 2.2 innings on the hill with the start.
NU sophomore Matt Sirois (Southington, Conn.) was 2-4 at the plate with a walk and two RBIs while sophomore center fielder Kyle Farquharson (South Ryegate, Vt.) went 2-4 with a pair of runs scored. Junior second baseman Brian Baker (Keene, N.H.) chipped in with a 2-5 showing, knocking in a run and scoring another in the effort.
A lead-off walk would not hurt the Mountaineers in the first as Henle retired the next three batters he faced to send his offense to the plate. Sciara started the home half of the frame with a base on balls, and a failed pickoff attempt sent him up to second. Albert got outs on the next two batters, but Pingitore came through with a two-out single to right to score the first run of the day.
Norwich started the second with a double to center, and the runner then took off for third on an ensuing grounder over to Rios after being checked by the Mountaineer junior; LaBadia caught the ball at first and fired it back across the diamond to a covering Nicastro who applied the tag for the double play that erased the Cadet in scoring position.
SVC added another in the second when a Fields lead-off single came around to score, a D'Agnese ground out to second making way for the runner to cross the dish. The 2-0 Mountaineer lead wouldn't last for long, however, as Norwich tacked up a pair in the next half inning. A lead-off walk was moved up on a sacrifice bunt, and the Cadet was able to come around on a Baker double down the line in right. Sirois followed with another run-scoring double, but he was thrown out by the Mountaineer relay trying to stretch it into a triple.
The stalemate was quickly broken, Southern Vermont chalking up three runs in the bottom of the box. Rios dropped down a bunt and made his way to first without a throw to start the inning before a walk put two runners on board. They both took off on the pitch, Rios beating the tag at third to get the pair in scoring position. The next at bat saw a dropped third strike, and Rios broke for home as the throw went down to first to retire the batter; the returning throw was high as the Mountaineer slid in to give his team the lead back. LaBadia then came to the dish and tagged a double to center, scoring Pingitore to make it 4-2. With two down, D'Agnese hit a slow roller to short and beat out the throw as LaBadia trotted home with the fifth SVC run.
A double and an error put Cadets at the corners with no outs in the top of the fourth, but a double play turned by the SVC middle infield, while the runner at third stayed put, quickly put up two outs for Henle. He then induced the inning-ending fly out to left to preserve the three-run lead. The Mountaineers gained separation in the bottom of the frame after loading the bases with one out. LaBadia stepped into one and launched it towards the hospital in right center, a shot that cleared the fence and the bases for his first round-tripper of the year. A walk and a double put runners at second and third, and a wild pitch and a D'Agnese single down the right field line opened up the hosts' advantage to 11-2.
Neither side scored in the fifth before Southern Vermont put up another pair in the sixth. LaBadia worked a walk to start the frame, and a fielder's choice allowed a second Mountaineer to reach base with two down. Sciara then knocked a double to dead center, plating both to extend the SVC upper hand. Norwich came back with one in the seventh and two in the eighth, but it would not be enough as the Mountaineers continued to push runners across home. Pingitore and Nicastro tossed the eighth and ninth, respectively, to wrap up the 15-5 victory.