|
| North Park University had the deck stacked against them to open up the 2022 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. Against 15th-ranked and tournament top seed North Central College, the Vikings beat NCC at the Cardinals' home field, 7-1, thanks to excellent two-way play from senior Logan Peters. Peters, who essentially had only one true start on the mound this season, cruised in six innings of work. The lefty allowed only a pair of hits, struck out three, and surrendered just two walks in his shutout playoff start. North Park athletics photo |
Freshman catcher Lucas Pierce knocked in two runs as No. 2-seeded Rhode Island College defeated No. 5 seeded UMass Dartmouth, 8-6, in game two of the 2022 Little East Baseball Championship, hosted by Eastern Connecticut on Wednesday afternoon. The RIC bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth inning, taking the lead back after a five-run stanza. Pierce singled in two runs by himself, sophomore shortstop Izaiah Rivera notched an RBI single and the Anchormen scored two more times due to a UMD throwing error. The hosts led by one, 7-6, after six innings. RIC tacked on an insurance run and called upon junior closer Shaun Gamelin, who struck out five of the eight batters he faced, to shut the door on the Corsairs and advance in the tourney.
Senior righty Bryan Albee became the first pitcher in 50 years to win his first ten decisions by pitching a career-high eight innings and graduate first baseman Josh Tower drove in two runs with a pair of singles as the top-seeded and nationally top-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University opened the Little East Conference tournament with a 6-0 win over sixth-seeded Plymouth State University Wednesday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium. Albee (10-0) improved his staff-leading ERA to 1.29 by combining on the team's fifth shutout of the year and on a six-hitter with graduate right-hander Jack Wallace. Albee allowed five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over the first eighth innings and Wallace closed it out with a scoreless ninth. Albee has struck out 53 and walked 18 in a staff-high 63 innings and improved his career record to 16-1 with his 12th straight win over two seasons.
Junior righty Alex Amalfi put one the most dominant pitching performance in program history as he set a new program record with 18 strikeouts to pace the third-seeded Beacons to a 7-0 win over fourth-seeded Southern Maine on day one of the 2022 Little East Conference Tournament Wednesday evening at ECSU Baseball Stadium. Amalfi's performance broke the original mark of 16 which was set in 2013. Along with his standout showing, the Beacons bullpen combined for four strikeouts to tie the NCAA Division III record for strikeouts in nine inning with 22. Ross Dexter and Thomas Kierce helped to seal the win out of the bullpen as the duo combined for the final four strikeouts, with Dexter striking out the side in the eighth. The 22 strikeouts also sets a new program record for the Beacons. On the day the Beacons allowed just two walks and scatt
Kalamazoo College hosted Adrian College in the first round of the MIAA Conference Tournament on Wednesday on the road at Kalamazoo College. The Bulldogs took an early lead, but Kalamazoo battled back to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth and defeat Adrian 7-6. The Bulldogs got on the board first in the top of the third building a 3-0 lead. Kalamazoo responded in the fourth on a 2-RBI single with the bases loaded followed by a sacrifice fly to tie the game 3-3. Adrian took the lead again in the sixth on a single from Cardentey, but Kalamazoo fought back to tie the game 4-4 in the bottom of the inning. Valentine picked up his third hit of the game in the seventh resulting in a 2-RBI single to retake the lead, 6-4. Kalamazoo battled back in the bottom half of the inning scoring on a RBI single and a bases loaded walk to tie the game 6-6. Kalamazoo went on to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth to send Adrian to the consolation bracket.
Take it to the bank. Al Money is a superb fielder for Hope College. With the tying run on third, the freshman from Midland, Michigan deftly scooped up a hard-hit grounder to third and threw to first for the final out in a 2-1 victory against Calvin University in the MIAA Tournament on Wednesday at Boeve Stadium. Top-seeded Hope (27-8) advanced to host Kalamazoo College in a second-round game on Thursday, May 12, at 10 a.m. The winner moves on to the championship round on Friday, May 13, at noon, at Boeve Stadium. "We got a little adversity in the ninth," head coach Stu Fritz said. "Third base, nobody out. Shane just found a way. Caleb (Regan) made a big play, blocked it up on a strikeout. Then Al Money, a big play."
The three hosts on the opening day of the double-elimination phase of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Tournament were all victorious on Wednesday afternoon and will continue on through the winner's bracket on Thursday. Top-seeded Salve Regina defeated No. 6 seed Suffolk, 7-0, while No. 2 seed Endicott knocked off No. 5 seed Western New England, 10-7. No. 3 seed Roger Williams got the third win on Wednesday, besting No. 4 seed Nichols, 9-6. The tournament continues tomorrow, May 12 with another three games at three campus sites. A pair of Seahawks pitchers proved to be too much for the Rams as the sixth-seed Suffolk baseball team was kept off the scoreboard by top-ranked Salve Regina, 7-0, in game one of the double elimination bracket of the 2022 CCC Tournament Wednesday after Reynolds Field. The storyline in the Salve Regina and Suffolk contest was told from the mound as Patrick Maybach had a no-hitter going through the first four innings and his offense built a 7-0 lead. Suffolk's Harry Painter broke up the no-no in the fifth with a single to right center but the Rams could not rally behind the lead-off base hit as Maybach retired the side from there to keep Suffolk scoreless. In the ninth, Christian Seariac managed to poked a two-out a single to left field looking to spark some kind of offense, however, Salve's reliever Nicolas Santo did his job and used help from his outfield to push Suffolk into the loser's bracket.
It was a pitcher's duel on Wednesday as the Immaculata Mighty Macs opened the Atlantic East Tournament with a 2-1 victory against the Marymount Saints. Jason Hughes pitched a one-run complete game. The victory also serves as head coach Josh Copskey's 100th collegiate victory as a head coach. The Mighty Macs scored first, plating one run in the bottom of the second without a hit. The Saints then responded in the top of the fourth. After the leadoff batter reached base, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, he scored on a single to tie the game up at 1-1. Then, in the next inning, Frank Margiotta made a diving stop on a line drive, preventing an extra-base hit for the Saints. The Saints maintained a no-hitter off the Macs until the bottom of the seventh when Josh Crowding reached base on a lead-off single, scorring on a Jason Smiley sacrifice fly for the winning margin. Cabrini had it easier as they won 22-2 over Gwynedd Mercy. Cabrini will meed Immaculata on Thursday in the winners bracket final.
Second seed Millikin opened action in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament defeating Carroll University 3-2 on May 11 at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Millikin jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Frank Bryan opened the inning with a walk. One out later he advanced to second when Lucas Ryan was hit by a pitch. Andy Niebrugge singled up the middle to drive in Millikin's first run. With two outs in the inning, Kyle Gibson singled home Ryan for the Big Blue's second run. Carroll tied the game in the second scoring on a Millikin error and an RBI single from Nick Angus. The Big Blue scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Freshman shortstop Liam McGill started the rally with a single. McGill stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Gibson. Tanner Coleman drove in the go ahead run with a sacrifice fly. Gibson and Niebrugge each had two hits for Millikin.
Augustana (30-10) began play at the 2022 CCIW Tournament this evening with a narrow 7-6 victory over Wheaton (18-19). The Vikings' defeat of Wheaton was their second-straight over the Thunder. Trailing 5-3, the Thunder jumped in front and garnered their first lead of the matchup in the fifth. Klein singled in another run for his second RBI of the day before Diel chipped in again to score two more. After two scoreless frames, Augustana got things going again in the eighth and ninth. Campbell continued his productive evening with an RBI double to right to plate Matt Ozanic and tie the game 6-6. Then, in the top of the ninth inning, Giacomo Fanizza reached safely on a Thunder throwing error which allowed Brett Benedetti to score the game-winning run as the Vikings eked out the 7-6 victory.
Northland College LumberJacks split with the visiting Finlandia University Lions on Wednesday afternoon. The Jacks took game one by a score of 4-1 before falling to the Lions 6-4 in game two. The first game featured some strong pitching from both teams as there were only eight hits throughout the entire contest. The Jacks Jesse Carmona went the distance while picking up the win. He racked up 11 strikeouts on the day while only walking two. Senior Jake Schramm scored two runs while going 1 for 3 from the plate. Ridge Guyette and Anthony Boyle both had key RBI's in the third inning to give the Jacks a 3-1 lead which they were able to hold onto for the rest of the game. Guyette and Schramm were both heavily involved in game two as well. Guyette gave the Jacks a 2-0 lead in the first inning when he launched a double to center field which scored Schramm and Garrett Warren. The Lions chipped away and were eventually able to take a 4-2 lead. In the bottom half of the fifth inning Schramm tripled and eventually scored on a Luke Maxwell single. Maxwell came around to score when Guyette doubled. The Lions quickly retook the lead by adding a run in the sixth and seventh inning. The Jacks got two on in the seventh but were ultimately unable to keep the game alive and the Lions were able to take the 6-4 win. Seth Hackbarth allowed two earned runs over five innings of work for the Jacks.