May 2, 2021

Salve Regina advances to CCC Finals

More news about: Endicott | Roger Williams | Salve Regina
After a combined eight hours, 35 hits, 37 runs scored, 22 walks, 11 stolen bases and 23 strikeouts by the UMass-Boston Beacons pitching staff, UMB secured a crucial Little East Conference sweep as they defeated Plymouth State University by the finals of 19-8 in eight innings in game one and 18-8 in game two Sunday afternoon at Monan Park
UMass-Boston athletics photo


Sophomore Tyler Canoe belted his second home run of the season and delivered a grand slam to cap off a seven-run sixth inning as Salve Regina University defeated Roger Williams University, 12-5, in the deciding game of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Pod A Finals for baseball at Reynolds Field. The Seahawks (12-4-1) advance to their fifth consecutive championship series and will host Endicott College next weekend (May 8-9) after the Gulls had swept a pair with Suffolk University on Saturday to eliminate the Rams from the Pod B Finals. Salve Regina will meet Endicott next weekend to decide who will represent the CCC in the NCAA playoffs.

York College advanced to the 2021 MAC Commonwealth semifinals with a 7-1 quarterfinal win at Hood College on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon in Frederick, MD. The top-seeded Spartans advance to face the Eastern Eagles in the semifinal series starting Saturday in York. Eastern was an 8-7 winner of Widener to advance to the semifinal round. The Spartans are now 6-1 all-time against Hood with all seven games coming in the 2021 season.

Justin Massielo's eighth inning two-out, two-run double lifted the Arcadia University to a series-clinching 6-5 win over Wilkes Sunday in game three of the MAC Freedom Quarterfinals to send the Knights to the semifinal round of the conference tournament. The Colonels got the tying run to third with two outs in the ninth, but Zach Steiger closed the door with a game-ending strikeout to pick up his third win of the season. Trevor Mattson belted his seventh home run of the season in the first inning - a towering, two-run shot to left-center - while Joseph Kumar had a three-hit day and scored a pair of runs.

Mount Union swept Wilmington 15-12 and 6-3 in a pair of Ohio Athletic Conference games Sunday at Tewksbury-Delaney Field. The Purple Raiders have now won 11 games in a row and stand at 24-6 overall and 22-6 in the OAC, while Wilmington falls to 7-23 overall and 6-20 in the conference. In the opener, Mount Union led 7-0, then fell behind 10-7 before scoring eight in the final three innings and held off the Quakers in the ninth for a 15-12 victory. Mount Union again jumped out to an early lead in the nightcap as the Raiders scored three in the second and two in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead and went on to a 6-3 win.

Vassar showcased one of its strongest performances of the season on Sunday afternoon. The Brewers picked up two key victories over Liberty League opponent Union at Prentiss Field. Bats were hot in game one, with the Brewers totaling 19 hits and winning 16-8, and then it was a pitching battle in game two with the Brewers edging out the Dutchmen 3-2. In game two, the Dutchmen retook the lead following a Joey Palko single to go ahead 2-1 in the eighth. At the bottom of the eighth, Jaden Millstein walked for the first at-bat, and Alex Warren was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Ezra Caspi struck out swinging, but Andrew Kanellis launched a double to left-center field to bring both Warren and Millstein home.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy has won the Skyline Conference Regular Season Championship and clinched the #1 seed in the upcoming Skyline Tournament with a 12-3 home victory over Farmingdale State on Sunday afternoon at Bartoszek Field. This is the program's first-ever outright conference regular season title (they tied for a regular season championship in 2013 in the Landmark Conference), and this is the first time the Mariners (13-3, 12-3 Skyline) will host a conference tournament in their first year eligible (by conference rule, stadium lights are needed for hosting and this is the team's first year with lights at "The Ray").

Haverford College (1-0) returned to action at Kannerstein Field for the first time since the 2019 season on Sunday, and instantly showcased its home field advantage with a convincing 14-6 win over Muhlenberg (5-7). The Fords offense pounded out 15 hits, including five for extra bases, while nine pitchers combined to limit Muhlenberg to just six hits, recording 13 strikeouts on the afternoon. Jordan Shand came off the bench to make an impressive collegiate debut for Haverford, finishing the day 2-for-2 with four RBI after roping a single to plate a run in the fifth and clearing the bases with a double to deep center field in the seventh.

Skidmore College swept Bard College 11-3, 7-2 Sunday. The Thoroughbreds took three of four from Bard to move to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the Liberty League. The Raptors are 5-11 and 4-8. Skidmore ran out to a 7-0 lead after three innings on the way to the win. Jaden Torrado was 3-5 with two runs. Max Mello went 2-3 with two runs and Danny Meillo was 2-2 with two RBI. Ameer Hasan picked-up his first win, allowing one run on two hits over four innings. Matt McQuaid had the three-inning save. Sam Browning's three-run homer in the top of the ninth broke open a 4-2 game. Browning finished 3-5 with four RBI. Justin Posnik picked up his second win of the season, while McQuaid earned his second save of the day with four innings of solid relief.

St. Norbert College put the finishing touches on sweeping its six-game regular-season series with Ripon College with wins of 13-1 and 9-7 in 10 innings in a Midwest Conference North Division doubleheader at Francis Field. The Green Knights (17-12, 11-7 MWC North) matched their season-high winning streak at six games with the two wins, which included a rally from trailing 6-1 through seven innings in the nightcap. Ripon would tie game two in the bottom of the ninth, but St. Norbert answered with two in the top of the 10th. Adam Cootway's double brought in Volz, who had reached on a two-base error with one out. An infield error then brought around Cootway for an insurance run. Noah Beilfuss then shut down Ripon in order in its half of the 10th to close out the win. In the opener, Tommy Maher was in complete control throwing a three-hitter, walking three while striking out seven.

Alec Michaelson limited Millikin to one hit in six shutout innings and Mitchell Owens went 3-for-4 with a grand slam Sunday to lead Augustana to an 11-1 win over the Big Blue at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. The Vikings improved to 26-6 overall and 18-6 in the CCIW, while the visitors fell to 20-11 on the season and 13-10 in the league. Michaelson issued just one walk in six one-hit, shutout innings. He struck out one and moved to 6-0 with the win.

Illinois Institute of Technology embarked on a Sunday-afternoon affair at Benedictine in pursuit of their fifth doubleheader sweep of the 2021 season. The Scarlet Hawks accomplished that feat with 14-13 (game one) and 14-4 (game two) victories en route to a 3-1 record on the weekend against the Eagles, who were swept for the first time in NACC play this season. The Scarlet Hawks improve to 15-7, 10-6 NACC while Benedictine (Ill.) falls to 24-9, 13-3 NACC on the season. Benedictine's 17 game winning streak was ended. In the opener, the Scarlet Hawks broke a 5-5 tie with a three-run fifth inning behind one-run singles from Ted Howell and Nick Bledsoe, as well as David Navarro's RBI-sacrifice bunt that scored Howell to make the score 8-5. It was a lead that Illinois Tech wouldn't surrender the rest of the contest. The Scarlet Hawks led from start-to-finish in a 14-4 decision over the Eagles in the nightcap.

Fueled by strong pitching in game one and an offensive outburst in game two, Allegheny earned its first doubleheader sweep over Wooster since 2016 as the Gators took down the No. 25 Fighting Scots by scores of 3-2 and 10-7 at the Robertson Baseball Field. Daniel Morgano went the distance on the mound in game one, keeping the Gators in the game and dancing out of multiple jams. The sophomore struck out nine batters in 7.0 innings, surrendering five hits and four walks and yielding just two runs over 124 pitches. In the process, the sophomore righty moved to 3-0 on the year. Brett Hecker led off the bottom of the seventh of a 2-2 game with a double off the fence in left field before Chase Chodkowski was called upon to pinch hit. Chodkowski placed a bunt to the third base side of the mound and raced to first, advancing Heckert to third. However, Chodkowski's speed forced an errant throw by the pitcher that allowed Heckert to score on the error following the infield single to walk off in the opener.

Buena Vista University picked up a big series win on Sunday afternoon taking the opener of the doubleheader against the University of Dubuque, 2-1, before falling in the nine-inning contest, 12-3. BVU swept the Spartans on Friday to begin the 4-game set. In Sunday's seven-inning opener, senior Tyler Stoltze lined a single into center that scored a pair of runs and gave the Beavers a 2-0 lead in the second. That proved to be all that starter Mason Gehling (2-3) needed, as he threw a season-high seven innings en route to his first complete game of the year. He scattered just four hits and was able to overcome four walks. His only run allowed came in the third inning on an RBI groundout. In the finale, the Spartans scored in six of the eight innings to help them salvage one game in the series. They jumpd out to the early lead with two runs in the first and later scored three times in both the fourth and fifth innings to break things open.

Whitman College won its second straight series, splitting a Northwest Conference doubleheader at Pacific Lutheran on Sunday. Whitman dropped the opener 8-7 before topping the Lutes in the nightcap 7-3. The opener saw a ninth-inning rally by the Blues (19-17, 16-12 NWC) fall just short. The Lutes rallied to take a three-run lead heading to the top of the ninth for Whitman's final at bats. After two runs in the ninth, Garrett Runyan was unable to keep the rally going and struck out to end the game. The Blues responded for a game two victory to win the series. The top of the lineup did the damage at the plate for the Blues who scored all seven runs in the first two innings. Ben Parker posted two hits and two runs with Kevin Nakamura adding two hits, one run and one RBI. David Johnson delivered two hits, one run and two RBI including a two-run single as part of a five-run Whitman second inning.

Ryan Flansburg tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out seven en route to an 11-0 win over Plattsburgh in the nine-inning opening game of a SUNYAC doubleheader. The Red Dragons completed the sweep over the Cardinals in the seven-inning nightcap with a 15-5 win to officially clinch the SUNYAC East division crown and guarantee themselves a spot in the SUNYAC playoffs. The Red Dragons (20-4, 11-1 SUNYAC East) have now won 20 or more games in a season for 31 straight years (not including last year's shortened season).

Alfred State swept a pair of games as they wrapped up the AMCC regular season with 5-2 and 31-3 victories over Hilbert on Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 16-20 overall and 10-6 in AMCC play. Nick Serce went the distance in the opener allowing just four hits and two unearned runs. He walked one and struck out 11. Holler and Avallone both went 2 for 3 to pace the offense. The Pioneer offense exploded in game two. The team scored in seven of the eight innings, collected 21 hits (from 12 different players), drew 15 walks, and was hit by seven pitches.

New England College breaks out the bats in game one, winning 17-7, before walking off 2-1 in game two, to pick up the sweep of Becker College, in New England Collegiate Conference action, Sunday afternoon. Tyler Gendron went 5-for-six on the day, with five RBI, and two runs scored. Garrett Langis hit his NECC leading seventh home run in game one. After today's doubleheader, the Pilgrims lead the all-time series 5-1.

Elmira College scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to complete a 6-5 walk-off comeback against Keuka College on Sunday afternoon at historic Dunn Field. The Empire 8 Conference matchup between the Soaring Eagles (5-24, 3-12 E8) and the Wolves (5-11, 5-11 E8) was an exciting one from start to finish. Offenses were quiet through the first five innings, as Ray Mineo and KC Howe engaged in a pitchers' duel. Not only were the pitchers dealing, but the defenses made play after play to help out. With the bases loaded, Joe Morrone doubled, allowing James Delaney to score the winning run.

Sophomore Ben Koomey contributed on both sides of the ball to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to a wild 10-7 victory over Ithaca College in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Freeman Field. The Engineers, who dropped Game 1 by a score of 14-0, are now 3-7 overall (3-7 Liberty League), while the Bombers move to 16-9-1 (11-4-1 Liberty League). As the starting pitcher in Game 2, Koomey allowed four runs (1 earned) on four hits over the game's first 5.0 innings. He struck out four and walked three. At the plate, he was 3 for 6 with a double and three runs scored, including a 10th-inning two-bagger that helped the Engineers to a lead in the frame.

The Beloit Buccaneers leads the nation in slugging
percentage and it showed in a pair of wins over Knox
College Sunday afternoon in Beloit. After combining
for 61 runs in yesterday's twinbill in Galesburg, the
squads posted a total of 44 runs in the doubleheader
in Beloit as the Bucs took game one 19-5 and the
nightcap 19-1.
Beloit athletics photo by Nigel Duff

Senior Anthony Raucci legged out an infield single in the bottom of the fifth inning of a 16-2 win over SUNY Maritime in game two of a twin bill on Senior Day and became the St. Joseph's College All-Time Career Hits leader with 154. The Golden Eagles completed the sweep with a 10-7 come-from-behind win in game one. The Golden Eagles wrap up the regular season at 15-7 overall, 13-5 Skyline. The Privateers finish at 11-10 on the season and an 8-6 conference mark. Today's sweep also marks the 150th win over his eight seasons at the helm of the Golden Eagles for head coach Rick Garrett.

Case Western Reserve University scored 28 runs over 16 innings on Sunday afternoon in Steubenville, Ohio to sweep a doubleheader against Franciscan University. The Spartans picked up an 11-4 win in the opening game of a doubleheader, a nine-inning affair, while topping the Barons 17-6 in seven innings the second game of the day. The Spartans have now won four-straight games and improved to 18-8 overall following the two wins, while Franciscan dropped to 14-17 with the two losses. Senior outfielder Benjamin Stawicki and sophomore second baseman Trey Haley led the way offensively for the Spartans on Sunday. Stawicki went six-for-eight (.750) with three doubles and seven RBIs, raising his batting average to .385 with a team-high 22 runs batted in. Haley went seven-for-11 on the day (.636) with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run and four runs batted in.

Saint John's (Minn.) completed the three-game sweep of Hamline with a 10-5 win, the team's 13 consecutive, on Sunday, May 2, at CHS Field in St. Paul. The Johnnies (25-8, 15-7 MIAC) took advantage of eight free passes (five walks and two hit batsmen) and collected nine hits, including four doubles in the victory. Matt Hayford and Max Nyrop collected two hits apiece, while Ethan Roe crossed the plate four times. Nyrop batted .667 (8-for-12) with six RBI, five runs, three doubles and a homer in the three games. Schleper produced a team-high seven RBI, while batting .455 (5-for-11) with two homers, a double and three runs.

Denison split the weekend four-game series with Wittenberg, taking today's opening game 10-8 before falling 1-0 in game two. With the victory in game one Denison clinched first place in North Coast Athletic Conference West Division to punch their ticket to the NCAC Championship Series against the College of Wooster. Denison will continue its regular season next weekend when they play Allegheny in a four-game series beginning with a doubleheader in Meadville, Pennsylvania on May 8, followed by a twin bill in Granville on Sunday, May 9. The NCAC Championship Series will take place at the College of Wooster the weekend of May 21-23. Exact dates and times are still to be determined.

This story will be updated