Baseball Sweeps Elms to Clinch NECC Top Spot
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Elms | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
|
Mitchell | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | X | 16 | 14 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Elms | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
|
Mitchell | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 7 | 10 | 1 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College baseball team wrapped up regular season play with a pair of victories over Elms College on Sunday, winning by final scores of 16-1 and 7-6 in New England Collegiate Conference action.
The Mariners swept the weekend series against the Blazers and also secured the top spot in the NECC standings, finishing the conference slate with a 14-2 record. Mitchell (21-6 overall) also extended its winning streak to eight games.
Mitchell starter Roland Thivierge picked up the win in the opener to improve to 6-0 on the season. Dougie DelaCruz, Anthony Diaz and Anthony Stigler all homered to fuel the offense, which finished with 14 hits.
The Mariners squandered a five-run lead in the nightcap but pushed across the go-ahead run in the fifth on a double by Devyn McCarty. Derek Dascoulias grabbed his first career win in relief while Jeff Nicolosi picked up a two-out save in the seventh.
As the top seed, Mitchell will next host the 2021 NECC Championship on May 7-9. Elms (8-12 overall) has also earned a berth in the tournament as the third seed. Complete details will be released by the conference at a later time.
Game 1 – Mitchell 16, Elms 1
The Mariners sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and staked Thivierge to an early 4-0 lead. Hunter Yaworski put Mitchell on the board with an RBI single through the right side, and Diaz later capped the frame with a two-run single through the left side.
DelaCruz crushed a two-run homer in the second inning to extend the margin to 6-0, his team-leading seventh round tripper of the season. Diaz led off the third with a solo shot, his third homer in the past five days. DelaCruz also tacked on an RBI single in the frame to make it 8-0.
Mitchell's lead was 12-1 in the sixth when Stigler hit a pinch-hit grand slam over the right-field fence for the finishing blow. It marked his first homer of the season, as well as Mitchell's seventh grand slam of the year.
Thivierge allowed only one run on five hits over 5.0 innings and struck out nine. Robbie Roles closed out the game with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief and fanned three.
Game 2 – Mitchell 7, Elms 6
Elms jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as Nathan Ayala plated a run with a sacrifice fly to center. Mitchell didn't trail for long as DelaCruz tied the game with an RBI single to right-center, and Diaz followed with a ground ball to plate the go-ahead run. Jeremy Santos, David Appelbaum and McCarty also knocked in runs as the Mariners led 5-1 after one.
Diaz added another RBI single in the fourth to extend the lead to five. However, the Blazers pushed across five runs in the fifth to tie the game. Seamus Higgins supplied a two-run double to ignite the rally, and later a sacrifice fly by Vinny Buono made it a 6-6 game.
In the bottom of the fifth, back-to-back doubles by Appelbaum and McCarty provided the go-ahead run for the hosts. Mitchel reliever Kenny Heon got through the sixth with the lead intact, but in the seventh the Blazers put two runners in scoring position with only one out. Nicolosi got out of the jam thanks to a strikeout and a groundout, with second baseman Jared Whitby supplying a nifty stop for the final out.
Prior to the game the Mariners honored 11 seniors in a special ceremony. The group—comprised of Jeremy Sagun, Anthony Laureano, Diaz, Dulin, Anthony Santiago, Appelbaum, McCarty, Santos, Thivierge, Jakari Pellegrini and Bryce Bedard—has accounted for 118 wins since 2017.
