BENNINGTON, Vt. — After being postponed numerous times over the last two months, Southern Vermont College and Becker College finally kicked off their three-game New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) baseball series with SVC taking a dramatic 6-5 walk-off win Friday afternoon at Epstein Field.
The two sides battled through temperatures in the mid 30's with Becker (12-13, 7-3 NECC) holding a tight lead for most of the game. Southern Vermont (11-13, 4-6 NECC) pulled ahead with two runs in the eighth, but a two-out solo homer in the top of the ninth tied the contest at 5-5. The Mountaineers put a pair of runners in scoring position in the home half of the frame, and a grounder in the hole of the pulled-in Hawk defense allowed the winning run to come in from third for SVC to celebrate the walk-off victory.
SVC senior first baseman Cody LaBadia (Howes Cave, N.Y.) went 4-5 with three runs scored in the win, tagging a pair of doubles including a huge two-bagger in the final frame. Freshman left fielder Niko D'Agnese (Mahopec, N.Y.) was 3-4 with a pair of RBIs, one being the tying run in the bottom of the eighth, while senior center fielder Sal Sciara (Massapequa, N.Y.) was 3-5 out of the lead-off spot, bunting in the go-ahead run in the eighth on a suicide squeeze. Senior right fielder Roland Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) was 1-4 with two runs scored, including the winning tally, and sophomore Anthony Mercuri (Ridge, N.Y.) added a 2-5 showing with a run scored and an RBI; Mercuri's run batted in came on a fielder's choice grounder towards short in the ninth that made way for Hernandez to score the game-winner.
Mountaineer freshman righty Jean-Carlos Berasgoico (New York, N.Y.) grabbed the complete-game win from the hill (3-2), giving up just two earned runs while striking out a pair of Hawks. Becker senior reliever Matt Camara (South Attleboro, Mass.) suffered the loss (0-4) after giving up the winning run in his 1.0 innings out of the bullpen.
Six of the nine Hawk batters tallied a hit with sophomore designated hitter Niko Bedell (Manorville, N.Y.) going 2-4 with a run scored. Freshman first baseman Samuel Stratton (Paxton, Mass.) had a run scored and an RBI while senior second baseman Matthew Consigli (Whitinsville, Mass.) was 1-4 with a run batted in. Freshman third baseman Ryan Hoar (South Deerfield, Mass.) added a 1-3 performance at the plate with a walk and an RBI, and freshman center fielder Francis Baldino (East Brookfield, Mass.) was 1-5 with a run scored and another knocked in.
Southern Vermont next heads to Mitchell College on Saturday for the first two of a three-game weekend Conference set with the Mariners starting at 12 p.m. Becker visits Lesley University the next two days for an NECC series with the Lynx starting with a 5 p.m. Saturday doubleheader at Trum Memorial Field.
After BC stranded a runner at first in the opening box, a pair of failed pickoff attempts allowed SVC junior third baseman Richard Rios (Pico Rivera, Calif.) to make his way to third in the home half of the inning. That's as far as he would get, however, as a pop out ended the threat and sent the game to the second still scoreless.
A lead-off hit batter and ensuing SVC fielding miscue allowed the Hawks to use a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position in the top of the frame. Another Mountaineer mishap allowed all runners and Stratton to reach safely as the first run of the day scored, and a Hoar single to right then made it 2-0 in favor of the Hawks. Consigli came up next and chopped a single between the mound and third base, bringing in Stratton with the third Becker run of the inning.
Southern Vermont answered in the bottom of the box, tacking up two runs to cut the deficit to one. LaBadia started the offense with a one-out single ripped through the right side of the infield, and he was able to then round second and head to third when the ball was thrown into right field on an attempt to get him on the force out. A wild pitch moved the SVC runners at the corners up 90 feet, LaBadia crossing the dish to get the Mountaineers up on the board. A fly out preceded D'Agnese singling to center for Mercuri to come in and make it a 3-2 ballgame.
The following half inning saw BC extend its advantage after Bedell led-off with a single to left. A blasted double to straight-away center put two ducks on the pond for Becker before a grounder down to Rios saw the Mountaineer check the runners and throw over to LaBadia for the first out of the frame. A walk loaded them up, and Stratton then sent a fly out deep enough to center for Bedell to scamper home with the fourth Hawk run.
Neither team could push one across the plate in its next three trips to bat, Berasgoico sitting down the BC side in order in both the fifth and sixth to give his squad a chance. LaBadia started the bottom of the sixth with his second hit and first double of the day, and Mercuri was able to ground the ball over to the right side of the infield for LaBadia to move up a base. Another ground out to second ensued for LaBadia to break on contact and touch home, trimming the Becker lead to 4-3.
The seventh was scoreless before Berasgoico got the Hawks to strand a runner at second in the eighth. The bottom of the inning then saw the Mountaineers put up two runs to go in front for the first time all day. A lead-off walk was followed by LaBadia slapping a single to left center with no outs. A base hit up the middle loaded the pond for SVC, and D'Agnese came through once again with a run-scoring single to left that tied the game at 4-4.
After a pitching change, Sciara came to the plate with LaBadia on third. The Southern Vermont first baseman started to break for home as Camara started his full windup, and Scaira squared around at the last second to get the bunt down and catch the Hawk defense off guard; Sciara was able to beat out the throw to first as LaBadia crossed safely to put his team on top by one. Camara retired the next two SVC batters, but the damage was done with the hosts clinging to a 5-4 lead heading to the ninth.
With one out, Consigli took a pitch to the body to get aboard with the tying run. He then attempted to steal second but over-slid the base, getting tagged out before being able to get back and touch the bag. Down to its final chance, Baldino provided a clutch two-out shot to right as he touched them all with his first collegiate home run. Berasgoico induced an inning-ending grounder to second to send the contest to the bottom of the ninth with the scored knotted at 5-5.
Camara retired the first SVC batter in the bottom of the inning before Hernandez hit a frozen rope to Stratton's right; the Hawk first baseman knocked the ball down but couldn't get the out as the game-winning run reached safely. LaBadia then cranked the ball down the line in right for his second double as Hernandez was held up at third with just the one out.
Becker pulled its infield to the inner grass in an attempt to hold the runners on any ball put on the ground. Mercuri came to the plate and pulled one to the left, forcing the Becker shortstop to go to his knees as he kept the ball from squeaking through; his throw to home would be just too late, however, as Hernandez slid in with the winning run before the Mountaineers mobbed Mercuri in shallow right field.