Baseball Tops USMMA to Stay Alive
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Merchant Marine | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
|
Mitchell | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 9 | 3 |
AUBURN, N.Y. -- Fourth-seeded Mitchell College stayed alive with a 4-2 victory over the sixth-seeded United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday morning at the Auburn (N.Y.) Regional of the 2021 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
Mitchell claimed the "Battle of the Mariners" thanks to a four-run first inning and a complete-game performance on the mound by Camren Varney. The sophomore right-hander allowed only two unearned runs on four hits and struck out four in the win. He becomes the third Mitchell pitcher to go the distance in a regional game and the second to do so in a victory.
Mitchell moves on and will face second-seeded SUNY Cortland in an elimination game later today. First pitch is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
Varney started his day by retiring the first three batters he faced and didn't let the ball out of the infield. His teammates then staked him to a four-run lead behind five hits in the bottom of the frame. Robbie DelaCruz led off with a double and promptly scored on a single by Lelo Martinez. Five batters later, John-John Jose singled up the middle to bring home two more runs, and fielding error by USMMA provided Mitchell's fourth and final tally.
USMMA got on the scoreboard in the third when an errant throw to first by Varney allowed a runner to score from second. However, Varney got a pop up and a ground ball to end the inning and limited the damage to just the single run.
Varney cruised through the middle innings before hitting trouble in the seventh. After putting a pair of runners in scoring position with only one out, USMMA made it a 4-2 game on a ground out by Jacob Kelly. Leadoff hitter Brayden O'Connell then worked a full count before Varney got him to fly out to left to end the threat.
Varney stranded another runner in scoring position in the eighth before coming back out for the ninth. Once again, the ball never left the infield as Varney got three ground balls to end the game. He threw a total of 119 pitches (75 for strikes) and improved to 5-0 on the season.
Anthony Diaz went 3-for-4 at the plate while Dougie DelaCruz went 2-for-4 with a double.
Tyler Reistetter took the loss for USMMA. After the rough first inning, he settled down and allowed only four more hits the rest of the way.
