CASTLETON, Vt. – Castleton's pitchers combined to give up just three hits and two earned runs in 16.2 innings pitched this afternoon en route to securing the season sweep over the Lyndon St. Hornets with three victories at Spartan Field.
The Spartans scored in the top of the ninth innings to secure a 2-1 victory in the opener before capturing the following two games by scores of 5-2 and 8-0. The squad has now rolled off seven straight victories, including 15 in the last 17 games, and is tied atop the NAC standings with a 16-4 mark (24-9 overall). The Hornets, meanwhle, fall to 6-20 overall and 5-10 in the conference after the series.
Game one of the three-game set was a continuation from yesterday's contest that was cancelled due to unplayable field conditions. Because of this, the game was started with a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh and Lyndon St. batting with one on and one out.
After Steven Jurkiewicz got out of the seventh and eighth unscathed, Nick Swim singled through the right side of the infield to get on base. Dan Errico followed with a single of his own before Collin Curler moved the runners into scoring position with a grounder to second. With two on and two out,Nate Swahn came through in the clutch with an RBI single to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
Jurkiewicz maintained his scoreless relief appearance, as he tossed a perfect ninth to secure an important, 2-1 conference victory for Castleton. With the victory, the southpaw improves to 4-1 on the season after not allowing a single base runner in his first relief appearance of the year. Michael LaBeau, meanwhile, picked up a no-decision after tossing 6.1 innings of one-run (zero earned) baseball with eight strikeouts.
For Lyndon St., Mike Raimondi took the loss after giving up just one earned run, whereas Mason Brewer threw seven innings and allowed one run while striking out seven.
In game two, the Spartans fell behind by two in the first, but countered with five runs over the next six innings to secure a 5-2 victory.
Conner Johnson was in strong form in his second start of the season, as he tossed six innings with two earned runs while giving up just one hit. In his last two outings, the junior has tossed 14 innings with just one hit allowed. Bill Johnson, meanwhile, dropped to 0-4 on the season after giving up five runs (four earned) in the losing effort.
The Spartans struggled at the plate in this contest, picking up just four hits while leaving seven runners on base. Swahn paced the attack with a run-scoring double, while Jim Buckley, Taylor Vileand Errico added RBIs of their own.
Lyndon St. wasted little time to get on the scoreboard, as they manufactured two runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. With the bases loaded and no one out, Michael Cartularo and David Laroche hit back-to-back grounders that allowed a pair of runs to score and put the away side ahead by two.
In the bottom of the second, Castleton found its answer. Swahn and Buckley reached base to start the inning before a failed pickoff attempt and a throwing error from the center fielder allowed Swahn to score and Buckley to reach third. Two batters later, Vile hit a sacrifice fly deep to center that allowed the first baseman to score and brought the game back to level terms.
The Spartans continued to rally in the following frame, as they picked up two more runs to take their first lead of the game. Tyler Lord led off the inning with a single down the left field line and proceeded to steal second base in the next at-bat. After Swim flied out, Errico ripped a single into left that plated Lord before Swahn followed with a run-scoring double to give Castleton a four-run advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, the hosts were at it again, as Buckley drove home a run to push the lead to three. Errico and Swahn started the inning with a pair of walks to put two on for Buckley. The sophomore first baseman didn't dissapoint, as he executed the hit-and-run perfectly with a grounder to first base that allowed Errico to score and made it 5-2 in favor of the Spartans.
Conner Johnson followed with a perfect sixth before TJ Fearon got the final three outs in the seventh for his fourth save of the season, as the Spartan captured a come-from-behind, 5-2 win.
In game three, Matt Ravey was dominant with a complete game shutout while giving up just two hits and walking none to lead Castleton to its seventh straight victory, 8-0.
The Spartans got off to a quick start in the contest by scoring twice in the opening frame to take a 2-0 lead. Lord led off the inning with a single to left before swiping second base. Two batters later, the senior forced a throwing error while stealing third, allowing him to cross home for the first run of the game. Later in the frame, Errico doubled down the left field line, and Buckley drove him home in the next at-bat to put the hosts out front by two.
Soren Pelz-Walsh and Errico recorded RBI singles in the second and third innings before the squad pushed across two more in the bottom of the fourth to claim a 6-0 lead.
With runners on first and third and one out, the Spartans perfectly executed a double steal that allowed Vile to cross home. Lord capped off the scoring later in the inning with a sacrifice bunt to score Pelz-Walsh and give the squad a six-run lead.
The Spartans tacked on two more in the bottom of the sixth, and Ravey completed the shutout with a perfect seventh en route to completing the season sweep over the Hornetswith an 8-0 decision.
Castleton closes out conference play this weekend, as it travels to Maine to play a four-game set against the Maine-Farmington Beavers on Saturday and Sunday.