NORWICH, Conn. – The Coast Guard Academy baseball team ended its regular season with an 11-6 victory over Mitchell College on Wednesday night at Dodd Stadium, setting a program record for wins in a season.
Cameron Carroll led the Bears (22-16 overall) with a 2-for-3 night at the plate that included a double and three runs driven in. Coast Guard sent a total of seven pitchers to the hill over the course of nine innings, with Nate Toll earning the victory with one shutout inning of relief to improve to 4-4 on the season.
For the Mariners, sophomore Rafael Garcia and freshman Nova Crespo each finished with a pair of hits. Senior starting pitcher Kevin Carbon tossed 4.0 innings but wasn't involved in the decision.
Coast Guard sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and pushed across four runs on five hits. Tyler Babkiewich got things started with a two-out double into shallow right that scored Nolan Gallagher all the way from first base. Ed Sella followed with a double to right-center to plate the next run, and a two-run, bases-loaded single by Carroll later capped the frame.
Mitchell got on the scoreboard in the second inning and cut the deficit to 4-3. The Mariners loaded the bases with no outs and brought the first run home courtesy of a sacrifice fly to left by freshman Neftali Arroyo. Crespo then executed a hit-and-run to drive in the second run, and classmate Eddie Lorah followed with a sacrifice fly to right to move the third run home.
The Mariners used a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with nobody out in the third. Coast Guard starter Kyle Wood nearly escaped the jam, recording a strikeout and getting a double-play ball to potentially end the threat. However, the Bears fumbled the turn at second base, allowing both Garcia and Marc Dorsi to score and put Mitchell in front 5-4.
Another Coast Guard miscue proved costly in the fourth as Mitchell added a run to its total. Sophomore Gavin LaLima reached base with a single to center to start off the inning and quickly moved to second on a wild pitch. He then tagged up to take third on a fly ball to left, giving himself the opportunity to score later in the frame on a throwing error on a ball put into play by junior Kenneth Olszewski.
Coast Guard struck for two runs in the sixth to tie game but could have come away with more. Joe Petry drove in the first run with a single up the middle, and the Bears proceeded to load the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly to center field by Gallagher scored the tying run to make it 6-6, but Mitchell escaped further damage after cutting down a run at the plate when Coast Guard attempted to score on a passed ball.
Sacrifice flies by Carroll and Eric Gerken bookended a four-run rally in the seventh that saw Coast Guard regain the lead for good. The Bears benefitted from three straight walks to start the frame and two Mitchell errors that resulted in a pair of runs.
Coast Guard tacked on another run in the eighth on an RBI single to center by Sella to make it 11-6. The Bears wouldn't need the extra run as their bullpen kept the Mariners hitless over the final three innings.
Freshman Ryan Mawson took the loss for the Mariners.
Mitchell (21-12-1 overall) will next play in the 2013 NECC Championship on Friday, May 3. The second-seeded Mariners will take on third-seeded Elms College in the opening round at 3 p.m. The entire double elimination tournament will be hosted by Daniel Webster College.