Auburndale, Fla. – The Trinty College Bantams cruised to 9-0 and 14-0 shutout wins in a baseball doubleheader against the Hamilton College Continentals in NESCAC baseball action today at Lake Myrtle Park. Trinity improves to 7-3 on the season, while Hamilton drops to 3-11 on the year. Head Coach Bill Decker followed up his 500th win as head coach of the Trinity College baseball program on Monday, by coaching his team to two more wins today,
There was much for the program to celebrate, as Trinity pitchers, led by two freshmen starters making their collegiate debuts, allowed just six hits and one walk while racking up 23 strikeouts in 14 innings of baseball en route to their 4th and 5th shutouts in their last six games, a Trinity record for shutouts to start a season. Just ten games into the year, the mark ties them for third all-time in Trinity history for shutouts in a season. The 2005 squad recorded six shutouts in their season, and the 2008 National Champion team earned nine shutouts in their record 45-1 season. The Bantams staff has allowed just 13 runs in 10 games this year, only five of which have been earned.
The strong performance today was an appropriate way for the team to follow up Decker's recent milestone, as his record as head coach of the Bantams moves to 502-223, since his arrival in the 1991 season. Decker, who was the ABCA National Coach of the Year in 2008, is the College's all-time winningest coach, and he has led the program to 19 winning seasons.
"I guess it just means I've been around a long time," Decker said about being in the 500 club. "There's been a lot of good times along the way and there are a lot of good times to come. All that really matters is what happens from here."
The Bantams impressive day gives them their sixth straight win, after the team started the year 1-3. The offense was equally as effective, posting 23 runs and outhitting their opponent 24-6 in the twinbill. Four players recorded at least three hits for the offense, supporting a pitching staff that provided back-to-back shutouts for the second time this season.
Freshmen Anthony Redamonti (Trumbull, Conn.) cruised through the opening frames, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced, and picking off the other to start the game on the hill. The southpaw was dominant all day, striking out ten in 4.2 innings in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Daniel Dileso (Walpole, Mass.) closed the door for the Bantams, striking out the side in the seventh and escaping a bases loaded jam to end Game 1. In Game 2, freshman Sean Meekins (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) also made his collegiate debut on the hill and went six strong innings, striking out eight, allowing just four hits and no walks, to earn the victory. Sophomore David O'Brien (Fairfield, Conn.) preserved the shutout by retiring the side in the seventh with a strikeout to start the inning, and one to end the game. Trinity pitchers combined for a 2-hit shutout in Game 1, with 13 of the 21 outs recorded by way of the strikeout, adding 10 strikeouts in Game 2.
Offensively, Trinity wasted no time taking a lead in Game 1, as junior Michael Rueger (Teaneck, N.J.) reached on a bloop single to start the game before classmate Stephen Rogers (Watertown, Mass.) took the next pitch to centerfield for a homerun. A single by senior tri-captain Kevin Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.) set up senior tri-captain James Ramsey (Belmont, Mass.) for an RBI double to the fence in just his x career at bat.
Ramsey gave Trinity another run in the fourth with a deep shot to right center for his second hit of the game, giving the Bantams a 4-0 lead. Hamilton threatened in the bottom of the fifth, putting two runners on for senior Samuel Choate (Weston, Mass.), who made a bid to cut Trinity's lead to one with a deep fly ball, but Rueger made a catch at the warning track to end the inning.
Ginsberg provided two noteworthy defensive plays at third base in the bottom of the sixth, and the Bantams tacked on five more in the top of the seventh, capped by a grand slam by freshman Bryan Wolfe. Freshman Alex Pachella (Wayne, Pa.) and junior Gabe Klein (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) each recorded singles for Hamilton. Klein reached base in all three of his at bats.
Trinity did not let up in the second game, posting three runs in the opening frame, which was all the offense they would need. But the bats didn't stop there, churning out 11 more runs in the game. Ramsey, who has been primarily used as a starter in his first three seasons in a Bantam uniform, had a career day at the plate, going 3-4 in Game 2 and 5-7 on the day, making him 7-10 in his career. Freshman Adam Moossmann (East Northport, N.Y.) went 3-4 with four RBI, Rogers was 2-4 with two runs and two RBI, and Rueger went 2-2 with three runs to lead the surge in Game 2. Wolfe followed his Game 1 grand slam with a two-RBI game, giving him six on the afternoon. Trinity scored five in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run single by Moossmann, and the Bantams added three in the following inning, Moossmann knocking in two with a double. Freshman Thomas Merriman (Kenilworth, Ill.) led the Hamilton offense with two hits in Game 2.
Trinity pitching recorded a combined eight shutouts total in the three seasons prior to this year. Just three teams in program history have recorded five shutouts in a season.