WATERTOWN, Mass. - Sophomore right-hander Craig Barnett (Narre Warren, Victoria, Australia) retired all nine batters he face in the later innings to earn his first save of his career as Newbury took the season series from Mitchell College, 2-1 with a 4-1 victory, Sunday afternoon. It was the first time in program history the Nighthawks took the season series against the Mariners.
Junior right-hander Cameron D'Agostino (Salisbury, Mass.) got the ball in the rubber game of the series and earned his second win of the season improving to 2-1 on the year. The North Shore native allowed just one unearned run on three hits while striking out three over the course of six innings.
D'Agostino was helped out immensely by solid a solid defense behind him, flashing the leather around all afternoon. In the top of the second and a runner on first with only one out, senior backstop David Dubay (Farmington, Conn.) picked off Mariner rightfielder Neftali Arroyo(New Haven, Conn.) for the second out of the frame. D'Agostino got senior catcher Will Charkowsky (Cold Spring, N.Y.) to hit a slow chopper back to the mound for the final out to keep the ball-game scoreless at the end of two.
The Nighthawks finally broke the 0-0 stalemate and got to Mitchell senior starter Mike Tandy(Montrose, N.Y.) the second time through the order. First year centerfielder Ian Hruniak(Lutz, Fla.) and Dubay opened the home half of the third with back-to-back base-hits to left-center. Sophomore first baseman Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.) took a 1-1 pitch back where it came from to bring Hruniak around from second with the first run of the game while Dubay scampered to third in the process. Junior third baseman Steven Broy (Gorham, Maine) lifted a high fly ball to centerfield to plate Dubay for the second Newbury run.
After senior right fielder Michael Dwyer (Hamden, Conn.) flew out for the second out, junior left-fielder Michael Perillo (Mansfield, Mass.) kept the inning alive reaching on a single to right-field. However, Tandy was able to retire junior Ryan Sinclair (Portsmouth, R.I.) on strikes for final out of the inning but the damage had already been done took a 2-0 lead.
Mitchell threatened to score a half inning later. Senior shortstop Marc Dorsi (West Haven, Conn.) reached on a two-base outfield error. He advanced to third on a ground out to the right side of the infield by senior Kenneth Olszewski (Canterbury, Conn.) for the first out of the frame.
With a runner just 90 feet away and only one out, the Mariners were poised to cut the lead in half but the Nighthawks would have none of it. Fielding a slow roller to third off the bat of junior first baseman Evan Peck (Shelton, Conn.), Broy gunned down Dorsi at the dish for the second out to preserve the shut-out.
But the Mariners finally did get on the score board an inning later as they took advantage of a Nighthawk miscue. Junior second baseman Peter McTernan (Union, N.J.) reached on an error before moving up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Two batters later, junior third baseman Rafael Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) laced a base-hit into centerfield as McTernan came around from second to cut the Nighthawk lead in half, 2-1.
It was as close as the Mariners would get. An inning later, the Nighthawks added two more insurance runs due, most, in part to the bottom of the order. After Dwyer and Perillo opened the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back singles, Rhone lined a one-out single into right field to plate Dwyer while Perillo went from first to third on the play. Fellow first year, shortstopC.J. Ingraham (Georgetown, Mass.) pushed a bunt to the right side of the infield for the second out of the inning but in the back door came Perillo to make it a 4-1 game.
A three run cushion was plenty for Barnett, who came on to finish out the game in the top of the seventh and preserved D'Agostino's second victory of the season.
Newbury sits alone at the top of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) standings improving to 7-6 and 2-1 in conference action while Mitchell drops to 3-3 in conference and 6-6-1 overall. The Nighthawks return to the diamond Wednesday March 26th when they host non-conference Fitchburg State University at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. First pitch is schedule for 5:30 p.m.
Game Notes:
Senior right-fielder Michael Dwyer (Hamden, Conn.) extended his hitting streak to six games with a base-hit to right-field in the bottom of the sixth...Sophomore first baseman Ryan Zahornasky (Shelton, Conn.) and junior left-fielder Michael Perillo (Mansfield, Mass.) recorded their fourth multiple hit games...Zahornasky went three-for-four while Perillo was two-for-four...