DAVENPORT, Fla. - The Mitchell College baseball team split their doubleheader against the University of Minnesota Morris on Wednesday at the RussMatt Invitational, falling 2-1 in the opener before rebounding for an 8-0 victory in the night cap.
The first game was highlighted by Mitchell's Dougie DelaCruz (Uncasville, Conn.), who belted a solo shot to right field in the top of the sixth inning to give him 19 career home runs, passing Jeff Perillo for most all time in program history. The second game saw the Mariner bats come alive in support of starting pitcher Tyler Daly (Wallingford, Conn.). The senior was dominant on the mount, tossing a seven-ining complete game shutout, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out seven.
The Mariners (7-3 overall) will conclude their nine game Florida tily on Thursday, March 16, when they face Marymount University at 9:45 am.
Game 1 - Minnesota Morris 2, Mitchell 1
Both ball clubs received solid outings from their starters in a game were runs were at a premium. Ryan Solimine (Danbury, Conn.) got the nod for the Mariners and worked six innings of two run ball, while Josh Osten picked up the win for the Cougars, surrendering just one run across six innings before Alex Baumann picked up his first save of the season.
Baumann opened the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom of the first, which proved to be the only run scored until a dramatic sixth inning. DelaCruz's record breaking long ball knotted the score with one out in the top of the sixth, however momentum flipped back to Minnesota Morris when Ethan Schmitz singled home the go ahead run in the bottom half of the inning. Owen Robbins (East Lyme, Conn.) led the Mariners with a pair of hits in the loss.
Game 2 - Mitchell 8, Minnesota Morris 0
The Mariners handed the ball to senior Tyler Daly in the second game and the tall righty delivered, improving to 2-0 on the season by neutralizing the Cougar bats up and down the lineup.
On the offensive end, Mitchell wasted no time jumping ahead, using a Matt Falk (Enfield, Conn.) triple and a Lelo Martinez (New London, Conn.) double to gain a 2-0 edge in the bottom of the first. The Mariners plated two more runs the next frame on a double by Angel Galindez (Carolina PR) and the second home run in as many days by Bo Yaworski (Brooklyn, Conn.). Three more runs came across to score in the bottom of the fifth, which proved to be more than enough for Daly. Falk and Yaworski both delivered multi-hit games for Mitchell, while Falk and Martinez led the way with two RBI each.
Parker Gilchrist suffered the loss for the Cougars, lasting only three innings and allowing five runs