NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team pounded out 16 hits on Monday afternoon and held off Johnson & Wales University, 7-5, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at Alumni Field.
With the win, the Mariners improve to a perfect 11-0 in GNAC play, while the Wildcats fall to 10-3 in the conference.
Senior Cole Lalli (Coventry, Conn.) accounted for four of the 16 hits by the Mariners, finishing the day 4-5 with two doubles and three RBI. Fellow senior Owen Robbins recorded three hits, including a double and a triple, and drove in one run, while senior Michael Gajda (New Britain, Conn.) tallied three hits and one RBI, and senior Angel Galindez went 2-5 with a walk, one RBI, and two runs scored.
Junior right handed pitcher Chris Gibbs (New Britain, Conn.) got the start for Mitchell and picked up his sixth win of the spring, allowing five runs (four earned) over six and two third innings of work. Gibbs allowed six hits and five walks, striking out six.
Senior Camren Varney (Manchester, N.H.) came out of the bullpen to earn his third save of the season, twirling an inning and a third of one-hit ball.
Despite playing on their home diamond, the Mariners served as the visiting team and opened the scoring in the top of the first when senior Robbie DelaCruz (Uncasville, Conn.) singled, advanced to third on a double by Cole Lalli, and came around to score on an RBI groundout by freshman Michael Ficocello (North Providence, R.I.). The Wildcats answered in the bottom of the frame, plating one run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of EJ Leone to make it a 1-1 ballgame.
The Mariners regained the lead the next inning by tagging JWU starting pitcher Max Randazzo for a pair of runs; the first on an RBI triple off the bat of Owen Robbins, and the second on an infield single by senior Angel Galindez.
Mitchell tacked on another run in the fourth inning when Galindez led off with a bunt single, stole second and third, and was driven in on a Cole Lalli RBI single. Randazzo's day would end shortly after giving up the run scoring single to Lalli, when he loaded the bases and with two outs was pulled for junior Ben Fosberg, who got Owen Robbins to line out to centerfield.
The Wildcats trimmed the deficit to two runs when Jack Magane scampered home on a groundout by senior Riley Hasson in the bottom of the fifth, but Cole Lalli continued his big day by ripping his second double of the game to left field, scoring DelaCruz and Galindez and giving Mitchell a 6-2 edge.
JWU punched back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh as Jack Magane laced a two-run double off Gibbs and then scored on a passed ball, but the Mariners pushed an insurance run across in the ninth when Robbins doubled and scored on a single by senior Michael Gajda.
Trevor Juan doubled for the Wildcats to begin the bottom of the ninth and EJ Leone was hit by a pitch, setting JWU up with the tying runs on base, but Varney retired the next two batters in order to seal the victory for Mitchell.
Max Randazzo allowed four runs in four and two third innings for the Wildcats, falling to 4-2 on the season. Trevor Juan had a team-high three hits for JWU, while Magane went 2-4 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored.
The Mariners (24-8, 11-0 GNAC) will look to remain undefeated in GNAC play when they host Rivier University on Tuesday, April 23rd, with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 pm. The Wildcats (20-8, 10-3 GNAC) travel to Rhode Island for a non-conference showdown against Salve Regina University on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Mariners and Wildcats will meet again one more time during the regular season, when Mitchell visits JWU on Sunday, April 28th.