Walk Off Single by Miller Jr. Sends Baseball into GNAC Championship Series
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#3 Lasell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
|
#2 Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Junior Kenneth Miller Jr. (New London, Conn.) laced a walk-off RBI single up the middle on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field, powering the second-seeded Mitchell College baseball team past third-seeded Lasell University, 2-1, and into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Championship Series.
That best two-of-three series will be played Thursday, May 9, and Friday, May 10, with the location yet to be determined.
Miller Jr. went 2-4 and drove in a pair of runs, also collecting an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning. Junior Adam Vartanian (Cumberland, R.I.) had two hits of his own for the Mariners in the win, while freshman Ryan Dennis (Enfield, Conn.) was 1-1 with two walks and a run scored.
Senior Jadon Canelli (Northford, Conn.) got the start for Mitchell, working four shutout innings. Fellow senior Chris Gibbs (New Britain, Conn.) then returned to the mound of the second consecutive day and picked up his seventh win of the season, surrendering six hits and one run, striking out four batters.
After four scoreless innings to open the game, the Mariners jumped ahead in the bottom of the fifth when Miller Jr. laced an RBI single to left center to score Ryan Dennis, who had previously reached on a walk and stole second.
The Lasers answered in the top of the sixth, as CJ Mills hit a leadoff double and was driven in two batters later on a run scoring single through the left side by Tim Callahan.
Both teams traded scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, before Gibbs worked his way around a base hit in the top of the ninth to keep the score tied. Junior Thai-ler Sestokas (Danbury, Conn.) worked a pinch hit walk to begin the bottom of the frame, before he advanced to third on a bunt single and throwing error by the Lasell catcher. After Ryan Dennis was intentionally walked and Nicholas Bracale (East Haven, Conn.) struck out, Kenneth Miller Jr. ripped a pitch by Lasell's Matthew Fletcher up the middle, sending the Mariners into a frenzy.
Chase Supan, Zachary Simone, and Adam Marsh combined to throw eight innings of one run ball for the Lasers, while Fletcher was tagged with the loss after recording just one out. Tim Callahan had a 2-4 day at the plate with a double and one RBI, while Scott Lyon, Ross Audet, and Jared Whitby had two hits apiece.
The Mariners (25-16) will prepare to face either top-seeded Johnson & Wales University or the fourth-seeded University of Saint Joseph in the upcoming GNAC Baseball Championship Series.
