Nashua, N.H – Senior 3B Dan Pidgeon (Darien, Conn.) went 5-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, and a double to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 10-4 win over the Wesleyan University Cardinals in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Baseball Championship Tournament action this evening at Holman Stadium. Trinity improves to 17-20 and advances to the final day of the tournament tomorrow when the Bantams can win their fifth league title with two wins over the Tufts University Jumbos. Trinity and Tufts will play tomorrow at 10 a.m. with the Jumbos needing one win and the Bantams needing two to take the conference crown. The Bantams had opened post-season play a 9 a.m. this morning with a 7-6 loss to the Cardinals in 10 innings, but rallied to score 10 runs in the top of the ninth frame to stay alive with a 13-6 win over the Amherst College Lord Jeffs. Wesleyan lost in the winner's bracket finals, 6-1, to Tufts, forcing the Cardinals into tonight's elimination game, the third of the day for both clubs.
Sophomore McLane Hill (Marlborough, Conn.) started on the mound for Trinity but lasted just one and two thirds innings after walking five of the 12 batters he faced. Junior Ethan Rode (Doylestown, Pa.) was handed the ball for Wesleyan and worked into the second inning but gave up six earned runs on eight Bantam hits before being pulled for junior Asher Young (Amherst, Mass.). Wesleyan loaded the bases in the top of the first but Hill worked out of the jam by inducing a pop up to third base to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Trinity junior CF Nick Pezzella (Worcester, Mass.) led off with an infield single before he advanced to second on a fielder's choice. Pidgeon then roped an RBI single to right field that scored Pezzella to give the Bantams an early 1-0 lead.
Wesleyan went ahead, 2-1, in the top of the second on a two-out, two-RBI double from senior SS Guy Davidson (New York, N.Y.) that scored junior LF Nick Miceli (West Hartford, Conn.) and junior 3B Ellis Schaefer (Newtown Square, Pa.), but Mohl (Milton, Mass.) entered the game and stranded two Cardinal runners. The Trinity bats put together five straight hits to open the home half, as they reclaimed a 5-2 lead and forced Wesleyan to go to its bullpen. Run-scoring singles from sophomore 2B Cooper Mooney (Southbury, Conn.) and Pidgeon, and a two-RBI single from freshman 1B Johnny Stamatis (Ridgefield, Conn.) accounted for the three runs before a ground out by junior Nick DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) brought home the fifth Bantam run of the inning to make it 6-2 after two.
Trinity junior Ricky Spencer (Madison, Conn.) drove in the remaining four Bantam runs with two-run singles to left field in both the fourth and sixth innings, while Mohl was brilliant in relief for Trinity to win his second game in as many decisions this spring. The rookie southpaw allowed just four hits from the second to the eighth inning, before the Cardinals scored twice in their final at-bat on a triple by Jordan Farber (Livingston, N.J.) and a sacrifice fly by Matt Jeye (Holliston, Mass.). Rode took the loss for Wesleyan, falling to 5-3, while Cardinal senior reliever Wilson Flower (Stockbridge, Mass.) worked a solid three innings out of the bullpen with three hits and just an unearned run given up. Pidgeon finished 5-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, and a double, while Spencer was 3-for-5 with four RBI, and both Pezzella and Stamatis added two hits apiece for the Trinity offense. Keith was 3-for-5 and Farber was 2-for-4 at the plate for Wesleyan.
In this morning's game against the Cardinals, Wesleyan senior C Eric Jones (Ridgefield, Conn.) clubbed a leadoff, walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning. Senior Jed Robinson (Winchester, Mass.) got the start on the mound for Trinity in the team's first game of the day, as he went seven innings and allowed six earned runs on 13 hits while striking out three. Miceli matched Robinson with seven innings of work on the hill for Wesleyan as he also allowed six earned runs and struck out seven.
The Bantams wasted no time getting things going, as Pezzella stroked the first pitch of the game up the middle for a leadoff single. Trinity took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a hard hit sacrifice fly to right field by DiBenedetto that brought home Stamatis. Trinity loaded the bases to start the top half of the second thanks to a leadoff walk from sophomore Brendan Pierce (Hingham, Mass.), a double from senior co-captain C Scott Cullinane (East Greenwich, R.I.), and a hit-by-pitch by freshman SS Ben Reinisch (Troy, N.Y.). Miceli induced a 6-4-3 double play the next at-bat, however the Bantams took a 2-0 lead as Pierce came across the plate.
Wesleyan answered in the home half with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, followed by a bunt single down the third base line by junior 2B Will O'Sullivan (Needham, Mass.) that loaded the bases with no outs. Miceli helped his own cause by roping a two-RBI single to left field that plated Jeye and senior RF Marco Baratta (Tenafly, N.J.) to tie the game. Robinson stranded the Cardinals with the bases loaded thanks to a strike out, followed by a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.
After a Mooney walk and Pezzella single to start the top of the fifth, Stamatis came to the plate and blasted a three-run home run over the right field fence to give Trinity a 5-2 lead. Robinson tossed his third straight scoreless inning in the Wesleyan half as the Bantams took the three-run advantage into the sixth inning. Trinity added a run in the top of the seventh when DiBenedetto roped a double to left-center field that brought home Stamatis to make it a 6-2 ball game, however, Wesleyan cut the deficit to one in the home half of the inning. Farber came up with two on and one out and smacked a three-run home run over the left-field fence to bring Wesleyan within one.
The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the eighth when Miceli reached on a Trinity throwing error to start the inning. A bad throw on a pickoff attempt moved Miceli to third with no outs before a double down the left field line off the bat of Schaefer tied the game at six. Wesleyan then loaded the bases but Pidgeon, who came on in relief of Robinson, recorded the final two outs of the inning to preserve the tie heading to the ninth inning. Wesleyan relief pitcher Ryan Earle (Hanover, Mass.) and Pidgeon both worked scoreless innings on the mound in the ninth to send the game to extras.
The loss forced Trinity into an e,imination game against Amherst, and the Bantams come back from a 6-3 deficit with 10 runs in the top of the ninth to win and keep their playoff hopes alive. Sophomore RHP Anthony Egeln Jr. (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) got the nod on the hill for the Bantams in the second game, and allowed five earned on six hits in four innings of work. Amherst senior pitcher Riley Streit (Oxford, Conn.) went 6.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs on five Bantam hits. Kenney led the Amherst offense with a 4-for-4 day at the plate with three RBIs and two runs while Reinisch paced the Bantam offense with two hits, two runs, and an RBI.
Reinisch led off the third inning with a double over the left fielder's head before advancing to third on an Amherst error the next at bat. Pidgeon brought Reinisch home on a sacrifice fly to right field to give Trinity an early 1-0 lead. Amherst manufactured a run of its own in the bottom half of the third thanks to a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of junior CF Yani Thanapoulos (Highland, Calif.) that plated sophomore RF Ariel Kenney (Chula Vista, Calif.). Trinity reclaimed the lead in the fourth on an RBI single to left field off the bat of Reinisch that scored Pierce. Amherst sophomore 2B Max Steinhorn (Bethesda, Md.) answered with an RBI single in the bottom half before a three-run blast by Kenney gave Amherst a 5-2 lead.
The Bantams threatened in the top of the seventh as Reinisch was hit by a pitch, followed by a single from Pidgeon to put two on with two outs. DiBenedetto drew a full-count walk that brought sophomore LF Matt Toth (New Canaan, Conn.) to the plate with the bases loaded. Toth also worked the count full and drew a base-on-balls that brought home Reinisch and ended Streit's day on the mound. Junior Mike Castiglie (Middle Island, N.Y.) came on to pitch for Amherst and struck out the next batter to end the inning and keep the game, 5-3, in favor of the Purple & White. After a scoreless home seventh by Trinity freshman pitcher Richie Cardillo (Boston, Mass.), Cullinane led off the eighth with a single to left field before a two-out single to right field from Pezzella put runners on the corners with two outs. However, Amherst freshman relief pitcher Andrew Ferrero (San Francisco, Calif.) struck out the next batter to strand the runners end the Trinity threat. Amherst added a run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by Kenney that brought home senior C Conner Gunn (Kingsport, Tenn.) before Trinity's massive ninth inning.
In the top of the ninth, a lead off single by Pidgeon followed by a DiBenedetto hit-by-pitch brought up Toth who crushed a double to left center field to bring the Bantams within one. Spencer followed Toth as a pinch hitter and laced a single to right field to put runners on the corners with no outs. Cullinane then came through for the Bantams with an RBI single to left field that plated Toth to tie the game. Senior Mackenze Genauer (Montclair, N.J.), who came on to pinch run for Spencer, gave Trinity a 7-6 lead when he scored from second base on a fly ball that was caught by the Amherst center fielder, but mishandled on the throw into the infield. Later in the inning, DiBenedetto cleared the bases on a single to left field that was misplayed by the left fielder to open up a five-run lead. An RBI triple by Toth followed by an RBI single by Genauer capped off the ten-run inning, before senior co-captain pitcher Sam Jordan (Sherborn, Mass.) closed the door for the Bantams in the home half of the ninth to seal the victory.