AUBURN, N.Y. (May 27, 2021) – USMMA senior Joe Raab (Edwardsburg, Mich.) tossed his sixth complete game of the season to lift the #6-seed Mariners over top-seeded and nationally-ranked #14 Eastern Connecticut State, 2-1, on Thursday in the first game of the NCAA Auburn Regional at Falcon Field.
 
With the win, the Mariners (17-3) move on to the winner's bracket of the double-elimination tournament and tomorrow, Friday, May 28, beginning at 2:30 p.m. they will face the loser of Thursday's third game between #3-seed Keystone and #4-seed Mitchell.
 
Raab (6-1) hurled his first nine-inning complete game of the year, with the only run allowed coming on a sixth-inning homer. The lefty gave up just six hits and struck out eight Warriors, who drop to 32-7 on the season with the loss. The defense also came up huge behind Raab, getting big outs in key moments late in the game to keep Merchant Marine ahead.
 
The Mariners also picked up their first win over a ranked opponent since late in the 2014 season when they defeated then-#22 Moravian, 5-2, on the first day of the Landmark Conference Tournament.
 
After USMMA was held without a hit over the first three innings (and Raab allowed only one himself), the Mariners opened the scoring in the top of the fourth. Skyline Championship hero, junior Garrett Aichele (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) led off with a single and then classmate Zac Skov (San Clemente, Calif.) moved him to third with a knock of his own through the right side.
 
With one out, senior Colin Baker (Clyde Hill, Wash.) lined one into center for a base hit that plated Aichele to break the scoreless tie. Classmate Timmy Chase (Scituate, Mass.) then advanced the runners to second and third with a groundout to first. With senior Jack McCann (Newark, Del.) in the box to start his at bat, Skov made a motion down the third base line that wound up inducing a balk by Eastern senior pitcher Josh Vincent, and he came home to score the Mariners' second run of the inning.
 
The Warriors got a runner into scoring position in the bottom of the fourth with two outs, but were unable to cash in. The fifth was a quick one, with 1-2-3 innings in both halves.
 
Skov laced a one-out double in the top of the sixth that one-hopped the tall wall in right center, and then advanced to third when freshman Tyler Reistetter (Dickinson, Texas) executed a beautiful bunt between the pitcher and third baseman and legged out a single without a throw. After Reistetter stole second, Vincent was able to settle down and get the two outs to get out of the jam.
 
Skov made a beautiful diving stop past the bag at first and tossed to a hustling Raab to get the first out of the bottom of the sixth and that proved to be a big play because the very next batter for the Warriors, senior John Mesagno, belted a homer over the left-centerfield wall that cut the Mariners' lead in half. It was the only blemish in the game for Raab.
 
The defense shined again in the seventh, as a one-out walk almost turned into a second-and-third situation with one out, but after the shot by senior Ryan Bagdasarian down the left field line was played by Reistetter deep in corner, the freshman fired a perfect strike to third to nail the leading runner for the second out. Raab then got a groundout back to him to get out of the inning.
 
Again a runner reached base with one out for Eastern Connecticut in the bottom of the eight, this time on a single, but the very next batter hit into a 6-4-3 double play, Baker to Chase to Skov to retire the side.
 
Raab went back out to work the ninth, already tossing over 100 pitches, and he got a 1-2-3 inning including the game-sealing strikeout - his eighth of the day - as the Mariners completed the upset.
 
Skov and Reistetter both finished the day 2-for-4 at the dish, while Aichele, Baker and Chase also had hits for Merchant Marine.
 
For the Warriors, Vincent tossed eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits with seven K's, as he falls to 5-2 on the season. Senior Bryan Albee came in for one inning of relief in the ninth and struck out two while allowing a hit. At the plate, Mesagno and freshman leadoff hitter Jason Claiborn both went 2-for-4, with Mesagno's homer the only extra-base hit allowed by Raab.
 
The Mariners are back in action on Friday on the second day of the double-elimination tournament. They will play the loser of the #3-seed Keystone vs. #4-seed Mitchell game which is slated to begin Thursday at 6 p.m.
 
First pitch of USMMA's game on Friday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Falcon Park. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on the USMMA Baseball Schedule Page as well as the NCAA Regional Tournament Page as they become available.
 
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