April 6, 2019

Dickinson vaults to top of conference standings

More news about: Dickinson
Texas at Tyler (16-12) earned their third sweep and
first three-game series sweep of the season with a
12-6 victory over Belhaven (9-23) on Saturday.
 Texas-Tyler athletics photo by Lang White

Dickinson moved to the top of the standings in the Centennial Conference, sweeping a doubleheader from Haverford on Saturday at MacPhail Field. The Red Devils held on for a 3-2 win in the opener and claimed the nightcap, 4-3, in extra innings. Junior Tommy Koide broke the school record with his sixth save of the season, overtaking Reid Collins mark from 2017. Koide becomes the second pitcher under pitching coach Ryan Kramer's '14 tenure to set the mark. Koide also came on in relief in game two and earned the win in the 10th inning.

Keene State received a pair of hits from four different people and went on to beat Johnson & Wales 5-4 in non-conference action at Owl Athletic Complex. A four-run third inning put the Owls ahead and proved to be enough as KSC picked up their first win at Owl Athletic Complex, beating a Wildcats team that had won seven of eight entering the day.  Keene State's offense was balanced, with four different multi-hit efforts, including John Tarascio, who went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI.

Sophomore Joseph Curci scored three runs and drove in the other two to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to a 5-3 victory over Vassar in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Prentiss Field. The Engineers, who lost game Game 1 by a score of 5-4, are now 10-10 on the year (6-4 Liberty League), while the Brewers move to 10-12 (4-6 Liberty League). In Game 1, the Brewers battled back from a 3-0 deficit to hold on for a  5-4 win.

James Varian went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Zack Durant combined with three relievers on a six-hit shutout as Cortland defeated host Fredonia, 9-0, in the first game of a SUNYAC doubleheader. The Red Dragons also won the second, seven-inning game, 7-2, after breaking open a tight game with three runs in the top of the sixth. Cortland and Fredonia entered the doubleheader tied for first in the SUNYAC standings, each with 6-0 marks. Cortland is now 17-8-1 overall and 8-0 in league play, while the Blue Devils dropped to 9-12 overall and 6-2 in the conference. The teams will conclude their three-game weekend series Sunday at 11 a.m. with a single, nine-inning contest.

George Fox traveled to face Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday, April 6, to kick off a three-game Northwest Conference series. The Bruins needed extra innings to clinch game one but still came away with a 6-5 win in game two and established a 5-4 lead in a rain-delayed game two. After the Boxers evened the score with a run in the bottom of the ninth, the game went to extra innings. Voezlke and Ramirez wore back to back pitches and the Bruins loaded the bases with an intentional walk issued to Jerrod Seamons before an error by the Boxers allowed Voelzke to score unearned for what proved to be the winning run.

Oberlin split a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader against the DePauw Tigers, falling 7-5 in game one before bouncing back with a 5-1 win in the nightcap. Senior tri-captain Ian Dinsmore was simply sensational in the game two win as he moved to 3-1 on the year after working 7.2 innings and allowing just three hits and one run. The right-hander from Cogan Station, Pennsylvania threw 131 pitches, 82 of which were strikes. He fanned five and walked only two in the victory. DePauw stranded 15 base runners in the game one win but were helped with 10 walks by the Oberlin pitching staff.

La Roche took the road for a
doubleheader on Saturday
afternoon. The Redhawks came
away with a pair of victories,
taking down Hilbert in game one
7-4 and Game two 18-3. 
La Roche athletics photo

Case Western Reserve opened its series at New York University on a high note, as the Spartans overcame a one-run deficit to defeat the Violets 6-5 in the opening game of the doubleheader, and rolled to a 6-0 win in the second contest of the day at MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday. The Spartans picked up their first two University Athletic Association wins of the year with the sweep, improving to 2-2 in the league and to 15-8 overall.  NYU fell to 13-5 with the pair of losses, and dropped to 0-2 in league play.

Becker split with the visiting Blazers of Elms by scores of 12-1 and 18-1 in a New England Collegiate Conference twinbill at Rochdale Park. The Hawks took game one by a score of 12-1 as Evan Barrera batted 4-for-4 with three runs and an RBI, Coby Hussey went 2-for-2 with two runs and three walks, and Michael Bianco went 1-for-2 with two walks and a game-high three RBI. The Elms offense put up 18 runs on 17 hits and six Becker errors in game two to prevail 18-1.

After a tough 2-1 loss in the opener, North Central (Ill.) was on the ropes in game two as well with North Park before Rob Marinec cranked a walkoff two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to salvage the series split with a 10-8 victory in game two. The game one loss was tough to swallow for North Central, as both North Park (12-8, 5-3 CCIW) runs were of the unearned variety, scoring each run in identical fashion. The offense tallied 16 hits in the nightcap, as eight of the nine starters recorded a hit, led by a 3-for-4 performance from Michael Stoltz to go along with a walk, stolen base, run scored and RBI.

Franklin stepped back onto the turf at John P. McDowell Field, hosting Bluffton for their first two Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference home games of the year. The opening game saw Franklin (13-9, 3-3 HCAC) jump on Beaver (12-12, 3-3 HCAC) pitching early and often, and the Grizzlies set a new season-high total for runs scored in a 19-7 blowout win. Game two ended up being the opposite of the opening game slugfest, with Bluffton taking a pitcher's duel and a 3-2 win to earn a split.

With a doubleheader sweep, MIT completed a three-game series sweep of Emerson to move to 5-1 in NEWMAC play. Game one was a 22-4 final, followed the 9-4 victory in game two that moved the Engineers into second place in the league's East Division standings. Sophomore Casey Bussone went seven innings on the field where he played high school baseball for St. John's Prep. Scattering eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts, he improved to 2-1 with the victory. Senior Zeke Long moves to 2-1 on the season with the win as he allowed five hits and four runs in four innings pitched. 

The Lancaster Bible College baseball team saw its offense wake up in a big way on Saturday, as the Chargers pounded 24 hits and scored 29 runs in take the opening game of a three-game series with Gallaudet, 29-5 at Charger Field. Lancaster Bible is now 4-9 overall and 1-3 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play, while the Bison dropped to 7-16 overall and 0-4 in NEAC action. Lancaster Bible sent 17 batters to the plate in the eighth inning, as the Chargers tacked on 12 more runs on nine hits and an error. Schenck singled and hit his third home run of the game, this one a grand slam, in the inning, while Saufley homered and walked in the eighth. Tommy Croke had an RBI single in the inning, while Will Welsh singled and walked as well in the inning.

Ripon's defeated Beloit 6-0 in the nightcap of
Saturday's doubleheader to salvage a split with the
Buccaneers after losing the first game 4-2.
Ripon athletics photo

Pitt-Bradford picked up a pair of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference wins in a sweep of D'Youville at the Kessel Athletics Complex. Pitt-Bradford (11-9, 4-4 AMCC) captured 11-7 and 10-3 wins in the two games over the Spartans. "The guys took care of business," Head Coach Zach Foster said. "Good to see the bats wake up today. A total team effort. Very proud of the way the guys played today." Matt Hair put together a big day at the plate, 5-for-8 in both games with six RBIs, three runs scored, a double and his first career homer, coming in game one.

Marietta split an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader at Capital. The Crusaders took game one, 9-5, and the Pioneers won game two, 8-2. Marietta is 9-12 overall and 3-3 in the OAC. Capital is 6-16 on the season and 2-4 in the OAC. Capital used two big innings to beat Marietta in game one. The Crusaders scored five runs on seven hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. Capital added four more runs on five hits in the seventh inning. In the nite cap, freshman Gino Sabatine (3-1) pitched 6.1 shutout innings for the win. He scattered six hits, walked two and struck out four. Sam Mathews worked the final 2.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits with one strikeout.

Nichols swept Curry, 5-3 and 4-2, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader at Jack Valley Diamond in Milton, Massachusetts. The Bison (12-10, 2-4 CCC) were led offensively in game one by senior Joe Assenza who knocked in one RBI, via a solo home run in the fourth inning, which tied the game at one apiece. Assenza also picked up two hits (2-for-4) and scored two runs. Nichols was paced offensively in game two with a three hit, two RBI effort from Assenza (3-for-5), including a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Junior Kyle Bouchard hit a home run himself, immediately following Assenza’s two-run shot in the seventh to extend the Bison’s (13-10. 3-4 CCC) lead to 4-0 over the Colonels (7-13-1, 1-4-1 CCC).

Saint Joseph's (Maine) (18-6, 4-2 GNAC) took a pair from Anna Maria (8-18, 1-7 GNAC) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Clark on Saturday evening. The Monks opened with an 8-5 triumph in 10 innings and capped the sweep with an 11-3 nightcap victory.

Westfield State swept a MASCAC doubleheader from Framingham State, winning game one with a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning, 8-7, and holding the Rams off by a 4-3 count in the night cap at Bud and Jim Hagan Field. In game one, Aaron Clancy's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh and final inning was the difference-maker, as he drove in Anthony Crowley with the winning run.  Crowley tied the game with an RBI single earlier in the inning. Crowley finished 2-3 with three RBI. In the nightcap, the Owls topped former MASCAC pitcher of the year Kevin Connelly (L, 1-4), 

Corsair senior Matt Cronin limited the visiting Colonials to six hits over eight innings, relinquishing a lone run to go along with eight punch outs in the winning portion of UMass Dartmouth's (10-12, 4-4 LEC) Little East doubleheader split versus Western Connecticut (5-15, 2-5 LEC) on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs batted around in the second inning for a four-run frame in support of Cronin, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back hits from the junior trio of Mitch Baker, Nick Andrews, and JR DiSarcina. In Game two, UMass Dartmouth had runners in scoring position, featuring the tying run on second base, but could not deliver the big hit to knot things up.

Stockton (13-6, 3-2 NJAC) rebounded from a loss on
Thursday with a resounding doubleheader sweep over
Montclair State (10-11, 1-4 NJAC) on Saturday
afternoon. The scores were 4-3 in 11 innings in game
one, followed by an 8-3 decision in the nightcap.
Freshman Brendan Doherty (pictured) smashed five
hits on the day to lead the Ospreys. The sweep was the
first NJAC twin killing for Stockton since April of 2016
over William Paterson.
Stockton athletics photo

Senior Dylan Gaita threw seven innings of six-hit, two-run ball and junior Jimmy Zimolka had three hits to lead Plymouth State to a 4-2 win over UMass-Boston in game one of a Little East Conference doubleheader at Monan Park. UMass Boston came back to win the nightcap by the same score. PSU, designated as the home team, plated single runs in the third and fourth innings of the opener to carry a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning, but the Beacons tied the game in the top of the eighth. Plymouth State came right back with two runs in the bottom of the frame and worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to earn the program’s first win at Monan Park. The team’s traded first inning runs in game two, but the Beacons added single runs in the sixth and seventh to pull ahead. PSU pulled to within 3-2 after junior James Salta homered in the bottom of the seventh, but UMB got an insurance run in the next inning and held off a Plymouth rally in the ninth to earn the split.

Louisiana College completed their second American Southwest Conference series sweep of the season with an 11-6 win over McMurry. After a two-hour rain delay early in the game, the Wildcats came out with four runs as play resumed and starter Andrew Robinson showed no signs of labor after the stoppage going seven strong innings for his seventh win of the season. A pair of double plays were huge for the Wildcats to keep the War Hawks runs to a minimum as McMurry out hit the Wildcats 18-14 in the game.

Penn State Altoona opened up its weekend road trip with a pair of games against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Alfred State, and the Lions came away with one win and one loss in the doubleheader at Pioneer Park. Penn State Altoona (13-9, 4-2 AMCC) won game one 9-3, but the Lions suffered a 7-6 walkoff loss in game two. "We played pretty well today. Unfortunately, the baseball gods weren't on our side today, and Alfred State walked off against us in game two," said Penn State Altoona head coach RJ Barnard. "Our pitcher really seemed to get squeezed in the ninth and was forced to throw the ball down the middle, and Alfred State was able to take advantage of it. We need two tomorrow to end the New York trip 3-1."

Springfield rebounded from its extra-inning loss on Friday afternoon with two wins over Coast Guard on Saturday, winning the Pride's first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference West Division series of the season. The maroon and white defeated the Bears, 8-4, in game one, before knocking off the hosts, 14-7, to complete the doubleheader sweep. Springfield College now sits at 13-10 overall and 5-4 in the league, while Coast Guard drops to 13-10 on the year with a 3-6 mark against league opponents. Junior pitcher Shawn Babineau pitched a complete game and picked up his third win of the year as he held the Bears to just four runs and struck out seven. The second win for the Pride was fueled by four RBI off the bat of Brandon Drabinski, as the senior went 2-for-4 and also scored three runs. Sophomore Eduardo Martinez and Joao each had two RBI in the win, as Russo and Nick Fazio had two hits apiece.