Walk it off Bobcats, Red Dragons and Engineers

More news about: Pitt-Greensburg | SUNY Oneonta | WPI
Nico Gonzalez finished 2-for-2 with 3 RBIs as the Scarlet Raiders toppled the Lightning of Lehman College this afternoon 14-3 at Weequahic Park. The win keeps the Scarlet Raiders' win streak going as it improves to four (11-4) while Lehman falls to 0-9.
Rutgers-Newark athletics photo by Larry Levanti
 


It was an offensive slugfest at Bobcat Park as the Bobcats defeated the Titans of Westminster 13-12. Both teams scored in the same inning in five of the nine innings played, including a game tying home run by the Titans in the top of the ninth, only to be out done by Bobcat senior Will Thorp who hit a walk off single to score Jace Cappellini for Pitt-Greensburg's second walk off win in as many games. Senior Zach Russell started the game for the Bobcats and pitched well as he navigated the Titan lineup. Coleby Lopatic and Tommy Ciesielski took the next 2.2 innings, giving up four runs. After a solid outing by freshman Ben Aftanas, who struck out seven batters over 2.2 innings, James Domer came in from center field and threw one pitch to get one out and earn the win.

A bottom-of-the-ninth rally lifted WPI to a chaotic 12-11 win over crosstown rival Worcester State on Wednesday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex. The Engineers improve to 10-6 overall, while the Lancers move to 4-8 with the loss. Another wild game featured 23 runs and 23 hits, but it was an RBI groundout and three straight hit batters that gave WPI the come-from-behind victory. The Engineers' Jeffrey Brennan continued his hot spring, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, three RBI, and two runs scored. Kyle Johns and Jack Zawacki each collected two hits and two RBI, while Jacob Hand had three hits with an RBI with a pair of runs scored.

Junior Alex Wurster hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to bring two runs in along with a 4-3 victory over SUNY Poly on Wednesday afternoon. The Red Dragons have won seven consecutive games and move to 9-3 overall, while the Wildcats fall to 4-8. The Wildcats retook the lead in the fourth. Zach Morrison hit a single and took second after Chris Martin hit a sacrifice bunt. Morrison picked up a run following a wild pitch to put SUNY Poly up 2-1. SUNY Poly added another run in the seventh inning when Anthony Bonacci drove in a single and stole second. Barber singled to bring Bonacci home and make it 3-1. Oneonta loaded the bases in the bottom half, and senior Jake Barrett walked to drive in a run. In the ninth, the Red Dragons loaded the bases again. Wurster came in to pinch hit and knocked a single to left field. The Wildcats' outfielder could not get to the ball in time as freshman Matt Sandoval, and sophomore Anthony Foglia sprinted to home.

The 15th-ranked Catholic Cardinals scored four runs in the 10th inning to complete a wild 17-13 victory over Marymount on Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals overcame deficits of 6-1 and 9-5 in the contest and led 13-9 before Marymount forced extra innings. Now 12-2 on the season, Catholic will open up Landmark Conference play this weekend versus Susquehanna. The longball treated the Cardinals well in Wednesday's Pope's Cup matchup as Catholic hit five home runs including two grand slams in the comeback effort. Ben Nardi hit two homers and drove in six runs while Joe Marini hit the grand slam that put the Cardinals ahead in the eighth. The first 13 Cardinal runs all came via the home run. With two home runs today, Nardi has become the Catholic baseball all-time leader in home runs with 21.

Hope made the most of a generous opponent, erupting for 10 runs during its final at-bat to earn a 14-4, seven-inning victory against Purchase on Wednesday in Winter Haven, Florida. The Flying Dutchmen closed their spring break trip on a two-game winning streak and return north with a 6-7 overall record. Hope sent 12 batters to the plate against three pitchers in the bottom of the seventh after Purchase scored two unearned runs in the top of the innings to pull even 4-4. Winning pitcher Eli Kane picked up the win after two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief. The junior left-hander struck out one and walked one but did not allow a hit.

Freshman Ernest Darling belted a three-run home run as part of an eight-run third inning and USMMA rolled to a 10-2 triumph over FDU-Florham. The Mariners improved to 7-5, while the Devils dropped to 5-9. Nine-straight Mariners reached safely as USMMA sent 11 men to the plate as part of the decisive third frame. The Mariners had already collected three-straight RBI singles and an RBI double when Darling stepped to the plate and made it an 8-2 ballgame with his first-career home run. Senior Jared Chambers later slugged his first home run of the season, a one-out solo shot in the fourth that made it 10-2. Chambers finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while sophomore Travis Leatherwood finished 2-for-2 with two RBI to help pace the offense.

Adrian hosted Heidelberg on Wednesday afternoon
in a non-conference game. Adrian's offense came to
play totaling 12 runs on the afternoon with ten of
them coming in the second inning. The Bulldogs
went on to grab the win by a score of 12-4.

Adrian athletics photo

In the 2023 MIT home opener, the Engineers earned an 8-4 victory over the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday afternoon at Fran O'Brien Field. The Huskies struck for a single run in the top of the first and MIT answered in the bottom of the second on back-to-back RBI extra-base hits. Graham Cartwright homered for the second straight at-bat with a solo homer to center in the fifth to stake MIT to a 5-1 advantage heading to the sixth. The Engineers put up a two-run sixth inning on RBI singles by first-year Zev Moore and Sonandres, along with the final run in the seventh behind an RBI single by junior Teddy Schoenfeld to account for the 8-4 final margin.

UW-Whitewater run-ruled Grinnell 13-2 in seven innings in Pensacola, Florida Wednesday afternoon. The Warhawks blasted 15 hits while the UWW pitchers combined to scatter four hits across the seven innings of work. UW-Whitewater scored in four of their six offensive frames in the contest bolstered by a six-run fourth inning. Matt Scolan, Donovan Brandl and Alex Najera all had three hits in the game to lead the Warhawk offense. Sava Dupor was tapped for the start and picked up the win on the mound. In four innings of work, Dupor fanned eight without issuing a walk while allowing just two hits.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first, Johns Hopkins hung a six spot in the second inning and never looked back from there, mashing 18 hits in a 12-3 victory over UW-Stevens Point. Gabe Romano battled through a tough first inning during his first start in 10 days as the Pointers picked up two runs on three hits, one run being unearned, to jump out to a 2-0 lead. It would not take long for the Blue Jays offense to respond as they exploded for six runs in the top of the second. Romano settled in after the first inning, pitching six strong innings, only allowing the two runs he surrendered in the first. Ryan Anderson and Hyunwoo Roh finished off the Pointers in the last two innings to cap off a 12-3 win.

No.16 Christopher Newport picked up its eighth win in the last nine games with a 4-1 road victory at N.C. Wesleyan (13-5) on Wednesday night, recording the nationally-ranked Captains 20th victory of the season. CNU has now won 20 or more games in seven straight seasons (excluding the CoVID shortened 2020 campaign) and 14 of the last 15 years. Behind a solid pitching effort from senior Dylan Weber (4-1), the Captains continued to cruise this season while improving to 20-6 overall. Weber struck out nine in six scoreless frames, helping extend the Captains shutout streak to 18 consecutive innings before the home team got on the board in the bottom of the ninth. Kyle Lewis struck out three in two-plus innings of relief before Danny Checkosky came on to secure his third save of the season in the final frame.

Westfield State junior starter Ryan Lapierre fired eight strong innings and the Owls offense launched three home runs en route to upset victory over the defending Division III champion and #2 ranked Eastern Connecticut State 10-1 on Wednesday evening. The victory for the Owls marks the second highest ranked team the Owls have taken out as Westfield defeated #1 nationally ranked UMass Boston back in 2018. Westfield improves to 4-6 on the year. Eastern Connecticut, who entered today ranked second in Division III in the D3baseball.com poll, fall to 11-2 overall. The Warriors lost just three games all of last season, finishing at 49-3 in 2022. The last time Eastern Connecticut State lost a home game was April 22, 2022, against Rhode Island College as the Warriors had won 19 of their previous 21 home games. The Warriors also entered the contest by winning 34 of their last 35 games dating back to last season.

SUNY New Paltz collected its first doubleheader sweep of the season Wednesday at Dutchess Stadium, defeating Mount Saint Mary College, 3-2 in extra innings in game one and then 8-4 in game two. The Knights tied the game in the seventh with Bobby Ramsey getting out of the inning though with two strikeouts to give the Hawks a chance to get the go-ahead run in extras. In the first extra frame, Ryan Mackle laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners with Pierson McGinnis getting the job done on a grounder that was flubbed by the second baseball, allowing Michael Boccarossa to score on the play. The Knights led off with a single and then a walk, but Robert Gregory, who came in relief of Ramsey, got the job done with a strikeout and then forcing Mount Saint Mary into a double play to end the game with the win. The Hawks trailed 4-1 midway in the second game. Ryan Mackle all but put the game away, blasting a grand slam to quickly put the Hawks ahead, 7-4 in the seventh. SUNY New Paltz put across another insurance run thanks to a sac fly by Garett Grathwohl, but the Hawks didn't need it as McGovern was firing to end the game in the seventh, strikeout out the side to put an exclamation point on the win.

Senior Michael Reyes and junior Christian Kreiser hit back-to-back homers as Stevens defeated the College of Mount Saint Vincent 6-4 Wednesday in a non-conference contest at Dobbelaar Field. Sophomore Evan Pravato singled and stole two bases and junior Jack Irby drew a bases-loaded walk for the Ducks, who won their seventh straight to improve to 13-5. Sean Kennedy and Jason Albert had consecutive run-scoring singles for the Dolphins who dropped to 7-6. Mount Saint Vincent has dropped four of its last five contests. The Wednesday afternoon matinee marked the first meeting between the programs since 2011.

No. 10 LaGrange (14-6, 3-0 CCS) rallied from down three late against the top team in the land before falling by a narrow 6-5 margin to No. 1 Birmingham-Southern (22-2, 5-1 SAA) in an NCAA D-III game on Wednesday. BSC would waste no time in getting on the board early as Cam McNearney singled with one out stole second with two outs – but wouldn't need the extra bag as Noah Best belted a two-run shot for a 2-0 lead. Building a 6-3 lead, the Panthers starteed chipping away. A walk sandwiched between two singles would see Rhett Mixon drive home junior second baseman Adam Dorn before Jeorge Fragoso lofted a sac fly to cut the lead to 6-5. LaGrange kept up the pressure with a Joe Ruth double that put runners on second and third and freshman outfielder Curt Bonner was walked intentionally to set up a force at any base with one out. It wouldn't end up being necessary as BSC rang up the next two batters to keep it at one run. That would be as close as they would get, however, as both team's offense fell by the wayside, ending with three straight fly outs in the bottom of the ninth to seal the narrow 6-5 final.

No. 20 ranked Marietta scored eight unanswered runs to defeat No. 14 Denison 9-2 Wednesday evening at Pioneer Park. The Etta Express improves to 12-5 overall, while Denison slips to 9-4 on the season. As expected in a game between two nationally ranked teams, runs were hard to come by early in the game as neither team scored through the first four innings. Marietta loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but an inning-ending double play kept the Pioneers off the scoreboard. With Ohio Athletic Conference play starting on Saturday, Pioneer skipper Brian Brewer split the pitching duties between five players today. Zach Marzetz started and worked 2.0 shutout innings striking out three and allowing a pair of hit

No. 5 Shenandoah ran its winning streak to
seven games with a 4-1 ODAC victory at
Bridgewater (Va.) Wednesday afternoon.
Shenandoah (17-2, 4-1 ODAC) broke a 1-1
tie with the Eagles (9-13, 2-3) with three
runs in the seventh.

Shenadoah athletics photo

Brandeis senior pitcher Asher Kaplan just missed out on his third career complete game, while first-year 1B Matthew Motiwalla drove in a career-high three runs as the Judges topped the Wentworth Tech Leopards, 7-4, in non-conference action today on Stein Diamond. After Kaplan worked around two hits in the first inning, the Judges pounced on Wentworth starter Brandon Sullivan in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs on six hits. Kaplan cruised, retiring 13 Wentworth hitters in a row between the end of the first and the sixth. The visitors spoiled a shutout bid in the seventh when a Kaplan error while covering first base put a runner on second, and Leopard RF Mike Sibert drove him home with two outs to make it 5-1.

Montclair State topped Penn State-Abington 25-6 Wednesday. Montclair (8-1) wasted no time and scored four times in the bottom of the first. The Nittany Lions trimmed the lead in half in the second, scoring two runs. They made it 4-3 on a solo home run in the top of the fourth before Montclair broke the game open in the home half of the frame with five runs. From that point, the runs came in bunches.

Ramapo won their home opener this afternoon over Western Connecticut State, 12-3. Ramapo scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth and broke open the game in the third with six runs. The Roadrunners who belted out 16 hits in the game, added single runs in the seventh and eighth. Nick Danbrowney (4-1) earned the win on the mound for the Roadrunners. He struck out three, walked three and scattered two hits in four innings of work. Troy Karaty worked the fifth and sixth innings with three strikeouts in relief before Will Kennedy, Sebastian Sphan and James Garthaffner all pitched one inning each as Kennedy and Ja. Garthaffner each struck out two in their relief appearances. Guadagno, Baranok, Lalomia, Egner and Marc Porpora each collected two hits in the game for the Roadrunners.

Penn State Harrisburg overcame an early deficit before the bullpen locked things down in a 10-7 road victory at York (Pa.) on Tuesday afternoon. Dallas Hite and Maddux Ryan each had three-hit outings, with Hite adding a home run. Brendan Henn, Carlos Irizarry, and Lucas Floyd drove in two runs apiece, while relievers Simeon Davis, Caiden Ertter, and Joel Sneeringer combined to throw seven scoreless. The Lions (11-5) stemmed an early charge from the hometown Spartans (8-8) and chipped away at a four-run deficit before pulling ahead in the final frames on Tuesday afternoon.

Muhlenberg scored five runs in its first at-bat and never looked back, defeating Penn State Berks 18-13 in its first game since returning from Florida. The Mules (7-7-1) stole nine bases, their most in a game since 2012, and also belted two home runs - back-to-back round-trippers in the fifth inning. Junior Jonathan Toth hit a long three-run homer over the fence in left for his 14th career four-bagger, moving into a tie for fourth on the program's all-time list. The next hitter, senior Caleb Tereska, hit a deep drive over the head of the centerfielder and circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run, the fourth homer of his career. Muhlenberg also hit back-to-back home runs in a loss to Swarthmore last year, with Toth hitting one of them. But this was the first time they went back-to-back in a win since a 2017 game against Johns Hopkins. And it was the first time since 2006 that at least one of back-to-back home runs was an inside-the-parker.

Anthony Schooley had three hits and Pat Defeciani drove in three runs as #11 Rowan defeated Neumann, 12-2, in a game shortened to seven innings due to the 10-run rule. It is the Profs' sixth straight win, improving them to 11-3 on the year. Schooley went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI while Defeciani was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, including two runs scored. The Profs had 13 hits on the day, with Tyler Cannon and Ryan Murphy also picking up two each. Rowan ended the game early with five runs in the seventh starting with a single by Morgan that drove in Phil Sedalis. Murphy clocked a two-run single to bring home Cannon and Morgan, and advanced to second on the throw. Defeciani's second double of the game allowed Murphy to score and Rowan closed out the game when Chris Curcio hit an infield single in which Defeciani scored after an error.

No. 12 Lynchburg beat ODAC opponent Virginia Wesleyan 11-8 Wednesday Afternoon. Nick Mattfield started on the mound for the No. 12 Hornets pitching two innings allowing one earned run on a solo shot. In the top of the 4th, four different Lynchburg pitchers worked the bump. Jack Bachmore eventually got Lynchburg out of the inning, but not before the Marlins took the lead 4-2. The Hornets answered in the bottom of the inning with four runs of their own but Va. Wesleyan retook the lead in the top of the 6th with the help of a two-run homer. Lynchburg again answered quickly in the bottom of the inning with a pair of two-RBI singles from Neaves and Harding retaking the score 10-7. Neaves provided insurance in the seventh with an RBI triple scoring Gjormand. The preseason All-American ended the day with three hits, five RBI, and two stolen bases.

Sophomore Jaxon Masterson had three hits, including a three-run home run, with four RBIs, while freshman Jacob Miller-Bopp added two hits and two RBIs, to lead Hampden-Sydney to a 7-3 ODAC home victory past archrival and nationally-ranked #13 Randolph-Macon on Wednesday afternoon on Yank Bernier Field at the Ty Cobb Ballpark – Wurdeman Stadium. Freshman Colton Harris gained the pitching win in middle relief for the host Tigers (10-8, 4-1) against the visiting Yellow Jackets (14-4, 3-2). It was the Garnet & Grey's first win against R-MC since April 18, 2018, an 8-1 home win against the Yellow Jackets. H-SC scored seven runs on 13 hits with no errors, scoring one run in the first inning, four runs in the second, one run in the fourth and one run in the seventh. R-MC scored three runs on nine hits with two errors, scoring the three runs in the second inning.

A four-run ninth inning capped on a comeback by MSOE to win their fourth straight game against Carroll, 8-6. After Carroll (4-7) scored the opening run of the game in the bottom of first inning, MSOE (7-2) answered in the top of the second as the Raiders worked to bases loaded after starting the inning with two straight outs. Blake Hall answered to bring Jack Kalitowski in to take a 2-1 lead. In the bottom half of the inning however, the Pioneers scored five runs open a large 6-2 lead. It wasn't until the seventh inning when the scoring picked back up as Micah Overley singled up the middle to bring Kalitowski in to score with Samuel Meidenbauer hitting a homerun in the eighth to cut the deficit to 6-4. With their last chance, the Raiders worked bases loaded in the top of the ninth as Kyle Labedz stepped up to the plate. A double from him brought two runs in to tie the game, as Brandon Besch stepped in and hit a double of his own to take an 8-6 lead. Jeffery Stanish came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth to seal the game, as the Raiders finished on a double-play to close off the comeback.

Beloit and Wheaton (Ill.) combined for 27 runs on 30 hits Tuesday night, in a 15-12 Beloit victory. That snaps a three-game losing streak against Wheaton, with the Buccaneers' last win in the series coming in 2015. With the wind swirling all day, Beloit had a rough start to the day, allowing a two-run and three-run homer in the first inning. The Buccaneers then got back into the game with a five-run second inning, which featured a two-run single by Matt O'Leary, while Jack Alport, Garrison Ferone, and Connor Vogel also each drove in a run in that frame. The Buccaneers took their first lead of the game in the third, which saw a two-run single off the bat of Alport, who would later score on a throwing error to put Beloit up 8-5. Beloit distanced itself with three runs in the top of the fifth, scoring two of those on a double from Ferone. Beloit finished with 12 hits, with four coming off the bat of Ferone, who finished with three doubles, just one shy of his own school record.

Ithaca defeated Scranton, 11–1, on Wednesday afternoon in its first home game of the 2023 season at Freeman Field. The Bombers built an early 7–0 through the first three innings and never looked back, getting defensive help as the Royals managed just four hits on the day. Jack Colyer got the start for the Bombers, striking out five batters and allowing just two hits through five innings. His only earned run came from a solo home run in the fifth inning. The Bombers built a three-run lead through the first two innings, and a three-run home run by Ethan Rothstein broke open the game for the Bombers in the bottom of the third inning. Coyler continued his great day on the mound, giving up scoreless innings in the third and fourth innings, adding two more strikeouts. Coyler gave up a run in the top of fifth as Scranton earned its second hit of the day with a solo home run.