NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College and Anna Maria College split a pair of one-run games on Sunday afternoon in non-conference baseball action at Alumni Field.
Anna Maria (3-10 overall), which batted as the home team, trailed 4-0 in the opener but rallied for five runs late to post a 5-4 victory. Mitchell (7-6 overall) bounced back in the second game, using a two-run fifth inning to pull out a 6-5 win.
Junior Kenneth Olszewski and sophomores Drew Doyle (Mystic, Conn./Fitch) and Rafael Garcia all went 4-for-6 at the plate on the day for the Mariners. Padraig Gilman went 3-for-5 to lead the Anna Maria offense.
Mitchell returns to action at home against Johnson & Wales University for a nine-inning game on Wednesday, March 27 at 3:30 p.m. Anna Maria will next host Fitchburg State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Game 1 – Anna Maria 5, Mitchell 4
Mitchell looked to be in control early, scoring a run in the first inning on a fielder's choice by junior Marc Dorsi and adding another in the second on an RBI single by freshman Nova Crespo. Starting pitcher Tyler Shamas didn't give up a hit through the first four innings and retired the first 10 batters he faced in order.
The Mariners added two more runs in the fifth inning to go up 4-0. Dorsi plated the first run on another fielder's choice and later scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Neftali Arroyo.
Anna Maria finally got to Shamas in the bottom of the fifth, tallying three runs on three hits. Lucas Davis started things off with a one-out double to right-center, and the next two AMCATS reached safely to load the bases for Anthony Risotti. Risotti plated the first run after being hit by a pitch, and Kevin Wodatch followed with a double to right-center to bring home two more runs.
The AMCATS took the lead and knocked Shamas from the game in the sixth. Justin Hyland led off with a single and stole second to move into scoring position. Davis then sent his second double of the game over the left fielder's head to tie the score at 4-4. After freshman Josh Zurita took the ball in relief for the Mariners, Gilman put Anna Maria in front with a double to center that scored Davis.
Mitchell threatened in the seventh by putting runners at the corners with two outs, but Wodatch got the final batter to ground back to him at the mound to end the game. Wodatch threw 2.0 hitless innings of relief to earn the win, improving to 1-1 on the season. Hyland made the start and gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three over 5.0 innings.
Shamas suffered his first loss of the season and dropped to 3-1. He allowed five runs on five hits and struck out four in 5.1 innings of work.
Game 2 – Mitchell 6, Anna Maria 5
Anna Maria scored runs in three of the first four innings and led 5-4 after knocking Mitchell starter Al Jordan Johnson from the game in the fourth. The AMCATS had a runner in scoring position when Mitchell junior Mike Tandy took the ball in relief, but he got out of the inning on one pitch by getting a fly ball to left.
The Mariners responded with two runs in the fifth to steal the lead. Doyle led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. He then advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a single to right-center by Olszewski. Later in the frame, Garcia delivered the go-ahead run with a single past first base that scored Olszewski from second.
Tandy took care of the lead the rest of the way. He retired the first nine batters he faced and gave up one hit in 3.1 innings of work. He also struck out two on the way to improving to 2-2 on the season.
Anna Maria starter Brandon Normandin lasted 6.1 innings and allowed six runs (four earned) on 11 hits while striking out six. He dropped to 0-3 on the season.