NEW LONDON, N.H. — The Southern Vermont College baseball team continued its strong month of April at Kelsey Field Thursday afternoon, defeating Colby-Sawyer College 13-6 in non-conference action.
The Mountaineers found themselves up 6-3 after the third before going ahead by six at the end of the sixth. SVC put up three runs in the final two frames, taking enough of a lead to make CSC's two scores in the bottom of the ninth harmless.
Southern Vermont improves to 18-14 on the year, now having won three straight and six of its last seven games. The Mountaineers are 10-3 in the month of April and are 14-3 over the last four weeks. SVC's win total ties the program record with six regular season games still on the schedule, a mark that was set by the 2011 squad which finished at 18-22 overall.
Next up for SVC is an important New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) series with Elms College over the weekend, the first two of that three-game set to be played at EC on Saturday (1 p.m.). The Mountaineers can clinch a spot in the league's postseason tournament with one more Conference win in their final four NECC games or with a loss by Lesley University.
SVC senior second baseman RJ Pingitore (Perth, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, adding four runs scored and a stolen base on the paths. Sophomore shortstop John Arancio (Oradell, N.J.) extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 3-for-4 showing, notching a run batted in and another scored, while freshman right fielder Dan Mason (Bloomingdale, N.J.) had a 2-for-5 performance with a walk and three runs scored, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Freshman center fielder Zack Stacey (Saratoga, N.Y.) turned in a 3-for-6 day from the batter's box, crossing the plate twice in the win as sophomore designated hitter Austin Teitelbaum (Westhampton, N.Y.) went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored. Sophomore third baseman Rob Spatafore (Mahopac, N.Y.) was 2-for-6 with a run scored, now having hit safely in nine straight games and 15 of SVC's last 16 contests.
Mountaineer junior righty R.J. Henle (Plantation, Fla.) picked up the win (2-2) from the mound, giving up just two hits with the start. Freshman reliever Joe Braim (Schuylerville, N.Y.) tossed a strong two frames in relief, giving up no runs and just one hit while striking out a pair.
Southern Vermont started the day with three straight hits, the last being a Pingitore single to right-center that brought in the opening run of the day. Teitelbaum tallied an RBI ground out to third, and Arancio then pulled one through the left side to bring in Pingitore and make it a 3-0 game.
Colby-Sawyer got one back in the home half of the inning, and the Chargers then got even closer with a lone run in the second. SVC added some separation in the following box, touching the dish three times on five hits. Teitelbaum knocked a one-out RBI base hit to left for Pingitiore to trot home from third, and the Mountaineer then scored himself on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of junior catcher Anthony Mercuri (Ridge, N.Y.). After Southern Vermont added a two-out run to go up 6-2, CSC tacked up its third straight one-run inning to get within three.
A Chargers' fielding error in the fifth gave the Mountaineers a four-run lead, and the visitors opened that up to seven with three runs in the sixth. Another fielding miscue allowed Mason and Stacey to score, and Teitelbaum tagged an ensuing RBI single to center for Pingitore to come in from third and put his team on top 10-3.
The CSC scoring trend continued with a single tally in the sixth, and the six-run difference then stood until the top of the eighth. Braim, who had started the game in the lineup at first base, sent a one-out double to the gap in left-center, bringing home Mercuri to make it an 11-4 ballgame.
The Mountaineers extended their separation with two in the ninth, a ground out with runners at second and third scoring the first run before Pingitore crossed the plate on an infield error by Colby-Sawyer. The home team put up two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but that would be all it could muster as SVC closed out the victory.