Baseball Splits in Battle of NECC's Top Teams
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team split
a doubleheader against Daniel Webster College on Sunday afternoon
in a battle of the NECC’s top teams. The Mariners came from
three runs down to win the opener 4-3 but dropped a 7-6 decision in
the second game.
Daniel Webster (13-10 overall, 6-2 NECC) remained a full game ahead
of Mitchell (10-9 overall, 5-3 NECC) for first place in the
conference standings. The teams will wrap up a three-game series
with a nine-inning affair on Monday, April 19 in Nashua, N.H. First
pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Game 1 – Mitchell 4, Daniel Webster 3
Freshman Connor Rochefort delivered a walk-off double in
the bottom of the seventh inning to score sophomore Tommy
Derosier with the winning run. Senior Jeremy
Chapman picked up the win on the mound, improving to 4-0 on the
season.
Mitchell didn’t get off to the best start, as the Eagles came
out and hit up Chapman for three runs on four hits in the first
inning. Bruce Brown and Nick Michaud each had RBI singles in the
frame while Rich Lizotte also plated a run with a sacrifice
fly.
Chapman eventually settled into a groove and kept the Mariners in
the game. After walking the first batter of the second inning, he
retired the next 16 Eagles in a row and gave up only one hit the
rest of the game.
Daniel Webster starter Kory Kiro ran into trouble in the fourth.
After junior Jeff Perillo led off with a double, Kiro loaded
the bases by hitting and walking the next two Mitchell batters,
respectively. A one-out walk to senior Jared
Bishop brought in the Mariners’ first run of the game,
though Kiro looked to be out of the jam when freshman Justin
Szela hit a ground ball to short. The Eagles tried to turn an
inning-ending double play, but a bad throw to first ended up going
out of play and allowed the tying runs to score.
The Eagles had a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh.
Zach Cantor hit a one-out single to give Daniel Webster its first
base runner since the second inning. He then stole second base and
advanced to third on a wild throw, just 90 feet away from plating
the go-ahead run. Chapman recorded the second out via strikeout,
setting the stage for a dramatic play that ended the half inning.
Midway through Nick Lalumia’s at-bat, Cantor broke for home
for the attempted steal but was gunned down when Chapman fired to
Szela in time for the tag.
Derosier led off the seventh with a double down the left field
line, and two batters later Rochefort followed suit with a shot to
left. Five of Mitchell’s six hits went for doubles, including
two by Perillo.
Chapman, who entered the game with the lowest ERA in the nation,
gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits in 7.0 innings and
struck out eight while walking one. The two earned runs he allowed
in the first inning were more than he had allowed in his previous
27.0 innings this season.
Kiro took the loss for the Eagles, dropping to 3-2 on the season.
He gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits in 6.1 innings and
struck out five while walking four.
Game 2 – Daniel Webster 7, Mitchell 6
Daniel Webster pounded out seven hits and took advantage of seven
Mitchell errors en route to victory. Skyler Gregorek pitched 2.0
scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win while Lizotte threw
3.0 innings to nail down the save.
The Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning as Mitchell
kicked the ball all over the field. The Mariners committed four
errors in the frame while starter Garrett
Cornwell yielded two hits and hit a batter. Lalumia singled to
drive in one of the runs, though the other three scored due to
fielding miscues.
The Mariners got back three runs back in the bottom of the first
thanks to patience at the plate and two Daniel Webster errors.
Perillo, who went 3-for-4 in the game, drove in the first run with
a single to left. Eagles starter Noah Shaw then walked three
straight batters to force in the second run, and the final run
scored via an error on a ground ball put into play by Bishop. Shaw
worked his way out of the bases-loaded jam by striking out the
final two batters of the inning as Daniel Webster clung to a 4-3
lead.
Mitchell went ahead 5-4 in the second inning on a two-run single by
sophomore Ethan Graynor. The lead would be short lived, however,
as Daniel Webster tied the game in the third on a ground out by
Cantor that scored Michaud. The Eagles then took the lead in the
fourth when Elliot Kilgore scored from third on a wild pitch.
Daniel Webster’s final run came in the sixth on yet another
Mitchell fielding error. The Eagles needed the extra run, as
Perillo bashed an opposite field homer in the bottom of the frame
to pull the Mariners to within 7-6. It was his team-leading fourth
home run of the season.
A leadoff single by senior Andrew
Langlais put the tying run on base for the Mariners in the
seventh, but Lizotte retired the next three batters to secure his
second save of the season. Cornwell took the loss for Mitchell,
dropping to 3-1 overall. He gave up seven runs (one earned) on
seven hits in 7.0 innings while striking out five and walking one.
