NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team battled to a 10-3 victory over WPI on Sunday afternoon in a nine-inning, non-conference showdown. The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was canceled due to rain.
The Mariners (18-6 overall) finished with eight hits and drew nine walks to score in double digits for the third straight game. Dougie DelaCruz and Hunter Yaworski each recorded a pair of hits, and the duo slammed back-to-back homers in the sixth inning. Starting pitcher Eddie Kaftan went 6.0 innings and improved to 3-2 on the season while reliever Sam Majewski tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief to close out the win.
The Engineers (10-8 overall) put up 10 hits on the day but stranded 12 runners on base. Dylan Connors, Jeffrey Brennan and Kyle DeRoma contributed two hits apiece. Starting pitcher Andrew Gray lasted only 2.0 innings and yielded six runs (four earned) on four hits while striking out two and walking four.
Mitchell got to Gray for three runs in the bottom of the first. After a wild pitch brought in the first run, Yaworski knocked in another with an RBI single to center. On the play, the ball got under the glove of the center fielder and rolled to the fence, allowing Yaworski to round the bases and score.
WPI got a run back in the second as Brennan led off with a single and later scored on a base hit through the left side of the infield by DJ Brooks. The Engineers then pushed across two runs in the top of the third, with DeRoma supplying a two-run single up the middle to tie the game.
The Mariners responded with three runs in the home half of the third. Mitchell loaded the bases with no outs and plated runs when Lelo Martinez was hit by a pitch and John-John Jose drew a walk. Owen Robbins knocked in the final run of the frame with a ground ball to second, extending the lead to 6-3.
Kaftan avoided trouble in the fifth, stranding two runners in scoring position by getting a pair of strikeouts to end the threat. In the sixth, the Mariners added four insurance runs courtesy of the long ball. DelaCruz crushed a three-run homer over the left-center fence for his first of the year, and Yaworski followed suit with a shot to right field for his second of the season.
Majewski took the ball in the seventh and didn't let WPI back in the game. He allowed three hits and struck out five while earning his third save of the season.
Kaftan yielded three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 6.0 innings, picking up his third win in his last four starts. He also fanned five batters without issuing a walk.
Mitchell will next play at Fisher College on Wednesday, April 6 at 3 p.m.